


A Blade Forged In The Ashes

by soulnight114



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 64,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulnight114/pseuds/soulnight114
Summary: For Kyoko Sakura finding a strange pendant and summoning of a Servant in Red and Black was all that was needed to completely change her world. Perhaps through this man she will one day find salvation.A fic in which Kyoko summons Archer.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

It had all started with a strange book that Kyoko had found while messing around in the basement of her father’s church, buried in some hidden alcove in the walls that likely even he didn’t know about it. If he had seen it then he’d have likely thrown it away judging by its appearance. It was thick and filled with sorts of symbols she couldn’t recognize all over the cover. Despite that it seemed hardly worn at all, as if brand new. It was if time hadn’t affected it all despite how old this book might’ve seemed.

So of course, to satisfy her curiosity she opened it and was surprised to find that she could read the contents. Japanese in such an ancient book. She couldn’t help but read it aloud.

“Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schwe-… Schwepe… Sch… uh me.”

Kyoko turned to the next page and a strange, yet beautiful red pendant attached to a metal chain. She immediately had plans to sell it and the book when she was done to get her family some food to eat.

“The alighted wind becomes a wall. That gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.”

She could feel something warm up in her body. Whatever she was doing it was doing something and she was going to see it to its end.

“Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Repeat every five times. Simply, shatter once filled. I announce. Your self is under me, my fate (doom) is in your sword. In accordance with the resort of the Holy Grail-”

Holy Grail? Like that thing from Indiana Jones? The cup that granted immortality if you drank from it?

“If you abide this feeling, this reason, then answer. Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.”

She took one deep breath as she prepared herself for the final verse.

“You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!”

The air around her thrummed with some sort deep red energy and yet nothing had changed. Despite going through the entirety of the chant there was still something missing, but she didn’t know what.

She leaned back with a sigh, prepared to just leave it alone and hope the energy would just go away before the rest of her family got back when she accidently cut her hand against a jagged stone in the wall. She cursed as a few drops of blood fell onto the floor below.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew up from underneath causing her to yelp and push her skirt down. The wind blew up the dust from the floor revealing a complex circle underneath that began to spin above the ground and around her. The energy was incredible, almost blinding, and it caused her to whimper back in fear as all that power condensed into a single point.

It then exploded.

Kyoko yelled as the explosion caused her to fall on her butt. She used her arms to shield her face. When the dust finally subsided, she cracked open eyes to find a figure in front of her.

It was a man. A fairly tall one with spiked white hair, tan skin, and eyes the color of steel. He wore a red coat on top of skintight black armor. She might’ve considered him attractive if she had happened to swing that way. Unfortunately, she had other things to worry about. Mostly about this very threatening stranger suddenly appearing in the basement of her father’s church.

The man looked around lazily. “How strange, I do not sense the presence of a Holy Grail and yet I’ve been summoned.” He looked at her with the eyes of a hawk. “Are you my master?”

Kyoko gulped.

Master? Who was this man and why did he appear? Was it because of the spell she had apparently cast? Apparently magic existed? That was new!

He raised an eye at her silence. “You clearly have a way with words.”

Was he making fun of her!?

Kyoko’s vision turned red as she stood up, walked up to him, and kicked him in the shin. She immediately regretted that decision as she kneeled onto the floor and gripped at her poor throbbing foot. Did this man have a body made of steel or something?

“Well you certainly have bite,” he looked at her casually as she writhed on the floor. “Tell me, where are we?”

“Kazamino,” Kyoko hissed out as pain in her foot finally subsided.

“I have not heard of that country before.”

“It’s a city in Japan,” she huffed as she finally stood up in front of him. She hardly reached his chest, which wasn’t surprising considering she was twelve, but the last thing she wanted was to seem intimidated by him. Which she most definitely was.

“Strange,” he said as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. “What year is this?”

“2008.” Kyoko quickly replied. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing just familiarizing myself with this… time.”

“Time?”

“Perhaps some explanations are in order for my clueless master in front of me.”

Kyoko huffed though she avoided trying to hit him again. The last thing she needed was to break her against his, admittedly, solid abs of his.

“I am an Archer Servant, a Heroic Spirit summoned to wage battle against six other servants and their masters in the Holy Grail war… or at least that was what is normally supposed to happen.”

“Grail? War? Heroic Spirit? And what do you mean this isn’t supposed to normally happen?”

“What I mean is that there is no Grail from what I can sense. No war to fight in. And yet you still summoned me into this world. Normally I would be provided with information needed to fulfill my purpose and yet I have still haven’t received a thing. So right now,” he looked her over once more, “all I have to work on is this rather petite master of my mine.”

Kyoko immediately crossed her hands over her chest. “I’m twelve you perv.”

“And yet you’re much skinnier than most girls your age should be.”

Unfortunately, that reminder of her body was enough to cause her stomach to growl. The noise echoed throughout the entirety of the basement, much to her embarrassment.

“Have you eaten anything recently?” the man asked.

“No,” she admitted.

“Are you alone?”

“No, it’s just that my family… doesn’t have much money for food.”

The man scratched his head and gave her look that could almost be construed as pity. “It would be no good to have my master starve on me. I’ll have to get you something to eat.”

“How are you going to do that? Are you going to steal?”

The man waved her off. “There are plenty of legitimate ways for a man of my skills to gather food and money for your family. I’m assuming they own this church?”

Kyoko nodded. “It’s my father’s.”

“Then I’m sure they’ll accept donations.”

* * *

Of all things that Kyoko thought would happen today, the last she would’ve expected her was to have a full meal cooked by someone who might as well be a Master chef. The beef rice bowl he had made for her was wonderful, perfectly meaty and garnished with some of the sweetest marinated vegetables she had ever eaten.

It was enough to cause slight tears to appear in her eyes as she graciously asked for seconds.

The man was more than willing to oblige.

“So, I’m your master, right?” Kyoko asked as she finished her second bowl.

Archer nodded as he stepped from the tiny kitchen to the dining room wearing her mother’s pink apron. It looked good on him oddly enough. It was a wonder where he even got the ingredients considering the fridge was near empty. “Indeed, the command seals on the back of your hand are proof of that.”

Kyoko looked at the back of her right hand and finally noticed the deep red symbols that looked like they had tattooed into her skin. “Uh… is there any way to hide this? I don’t think my father will be happy with this.”

“There are spells we can use to hide it from most normal people. Though it would be a good habit to wear gloves whenever you can.”

“Spells? So, you’re some sort of magician, even though you’re supposed to be an Archer?”

The man lifted and an arrow suddenly appeared in it. “To be an Archer servant requires the possession of powerful projectile weapons or special abilities related to them. They are not the only tools or skills I possess however they are my notable strengths along with Independent Action.”

“Independent Action?”

“Independent action allows me to act independently for a length of time without an active supply of magical energy from my Master. Have you not noticed the slight drain on your Prana with me in your presence?”

Kyoko tilted her head. “Prana?”

“Are your family not Mages?”

“No. My father’s a priest.”

“Priests can be mages too.”

“Well I’ve never seen him using magic before!”

“So, assuming your family doesn’t have a Crest or Magical Circuits… then either you just happened to be born with dormant circuits or the summoning ritual caused your body to create them. In the latter case then your body would’ve gone through a mutation because of the ritual.”

“I have these Magical Circuits then?”

He nodded. “One active. 29 more that still lie dormant. More than the average magus and judging by the 10 units your active circuit is creating, you have the makings of a potent mage.”

Kyoko gasped in excitement. She couldn’t quite help it. “I can use magic?”

“Magecraft.”

“Magecraft?”

“True Magic is to do the impossible. It is the highest class of mystery that allows the actualization of events that are impossible to reproduce by humans or the planet even if given an infinite amount of time and resources”

“What?”

“Magic makes the impossible happen. Magecraft simply allows you to do what it possible through science through supernatural means. If it’s theoretically possible through science then you should be able to do it through magecraft.”

“So, like… creating a fire?” Kyoko ventured. “Since that’s scientifically possible I can use Magecraft to create fire whenever I want.”

The man nodded. “In simplest terms yes. There is much more you can do through Magecraft. Just don’t expect to raise the dead or travel through time.”

“Fair enough. But still magi- I mean Magecraft. Wow.”

He looked at her solemnly. “To be a magus is to walk with death. You must always be prepared to die for your craft, to cast aside your humanity for the sake of something greater than yourself. It is not a decision to be taken likely.”

“But you made that decision, right? And you became a Hero because of it?”

It was subtle but she could almost see the man hesitate at her words. “A Heroic Spirit. Not a hero.”

“What’s the difference?”

“A Heroic spirit is a higher being, people or things that have achieved great deeds in life and become objects of worship after their deaths. Just because they are worshipped and put onto the throne doesn’t make them a hero. There are plenty of villains in history whose falling have made them famous enough to put them on the throne.”

“So, are you a hero or a villain then?”

“I am nothing but a soldier.”

“Well that’s boring.” Kyoko huffed. “What’s the point of a soldier if there is no war? There are still plenty of people that need salvation though, so you know what I’ll be a hero then.”

“What?” he stared at her incredulously.

“I’ll become a magus and a hero. I’ll become so cool that’ll I’ll join that Throne you’re talking about like you did.”

He clenched his fists though that hardly bothered her. “Being a hero is a stupid hopeless dream. I might be a Heroic Spirit, but it is impossible to be a true hero. It is a dream that will only lead you to your ruin.”

“You can’t know unless you try it,” Kyoko waved him off. “How would you know being a soldier and all?”

The man grunted. “You’ll realize soon enough Master.”

“Kyoko.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Kyoko Sakura and as your Master I demand to know yours.”

“In this world I have no name. You can simply refer to me though as Archer.”

* * *

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.”

Kyoko hummed to herself as she listened to her father’s lecture in her church.

James 1:12. One of her father’s favorite verses and the one he was seen quoting most often every time she and Momo complained about their homework. It certainly applied in this case to the one other person that had come to attend his sermon that day, a homeless man that had just happened to wander in.

Despite losing most of his flock with his strange sermons he still determinedly gave out his sermons. Even when there was no one to listen. Apparently, God was all the he needed, but a man worked that hard deserved to have others listen to him, right?

She sighed.

In the end there was nothing she could do. Magecraft had its limits and even Archer couldn’t really do a thing about that apart from providing the occasional anonymous donation to the church so that they wouldn’t starve.

Well technically he could but it wasn’t exactly morally sound to start hypnotizing people to come into the church. In the end faith came from choice. It was God that had planted the forbidden fruit in the Garden in first place. To be able to choose otherwise and still choose it was proof of love and forcing people to that against their will would probably one of the biggest sins of all.

* * *

Kyoko twirled her pencil in her mouth and began biting down the edge as she mulled over her homework. She didn’t have to worry about breaking it at all, a quick bout of reinforcement was all it took to prevent bite marks while still giving it enough give so that she didn’t and up breaking her teeth against it.

It was strange how much of her life remained the same even three months after Archer’s summoning. She was still going to school, still doing homework, and occasionally attending one of her father’s sermons with Momo. The only thing that really changed is that Archer would occasionally take an hour or two afterschool to train her in Magecraft in an isolated location. It didn’t take much for him to set something called a Bounded Field to prevent people from seeing them.

In fact, he was really good at hiding thanks to his magic and Astral form, so she never actually had to tell her family anything about him. Granted it didn’t feel right to keep such a huge secret from them, especially from her father, but well try convincing a devout priest that you were now a magician that owned a Heroic Spirit whose sole purpose was to fight for you in a nonexistent war.

God only knows how many verses from Revelations he’d force her to recite.

Needless to say, it was much easier to keep quiet about it, especially with Archer providing donations so that her family would no longer starve. The look on Momo’s face when they finally had a table full of food was just beautiful. It had been a long time since she had seen her smile and even Archer seemed notably cheered by it. Apparently, he also had soft spot for little kids like she did.

Not that Kyoko counted herself as a little kid, despite how many times Archer said so.

 _Your father’s a little strange_ , _but you have a good family,_ Archer’s voice called out from within her head.

Telepathic communication was incredibly convenient especially when it meant that Archer wouldn’t have to risk exposing himself whenever they wanted to talk.

_His teachings aren’t very… conventional but he means well, and he tries his best. He’s been doing a lot better now that he thinks he has an anonymous donor supporting him. Where are you getting that money anyway?_

_A few odd jobs here and there. Unless we’ve used up significant energy, servants don’t acquire sleep. It makes it easy to pick up a night shift or two._

_Are you working right now?_

Kyoko could suddenly hear the familiar ring of a cash register in her head.

_How do you think I was able to get so much fresh produce for your family?_

_Just try not to cause to cause a commotion._

_I should be the one saying that to you. You’ve been rather reckless with your Magecraft, especially around people that might see it._

Kyoko couldn’t really help it after having to more of her circuits unlocked, she had already begun learning how to use Reinforcement magic on her body along with any objects she held. It was the first field of magic he had taught her and the one that he was most familiar with apparently.

_It’s just cool that I can make this pencil as strong as a knife. I can’t wait till I’m making weapons from thin air like you can._

_My Magecraft… is highly specialized._

_Highly specialized? So, you only focused on those sort of spells?_

_Rather I am only capable of using those spells and hopeless with the rest. I was always considered a third-rate magus in life because of that. I can teach you the basics of Reinforcement, Projection, and Alteration, but it might be best for you to branch out into other fields altogether._

_Maybe later. Right now, I think I’ll keep practicing Reinforcement._

There was just something cool about being able to just punch through a brick wall with her bare fist and she didn’t need to make weapons if Archer could just create them for her. She had become rather fond of a particular steel spear that he would constantly make for her.

“Big sis what’s wrong?”

Kyoko quickly canceled out her reinforcement and turned around toward her sister. “Nothing wrong Momo just busy thinking.”

“What were those strange lights coming from your pencil?” her sister asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little trick I’ve been learning at school for a talent show.”

“A talent show?” Momo’s eyes lit up in excitement. “I want to see!”

“Sorry it’s only for the students at my school.” Kyoko patted her sister’s head as she pouted. “Don’t worry I’ll show you a few of the magic tricks I learned, just don’t tell dad about them.”

“I won’t!” Momo replied cheerfully before heading to the bed of their shared room.

 _Magic tricks? Are you sure it’s a good idea to tell her that?_ Archer asked.

 _It’s fine,_ Kyoko replied. _Momo’s a good girl, but she can at least keep a secret or two. Not the first time we had to keep something from dad._

_A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish._

_Proverbs 19:9. Since when did you start quoting bible verses?_

_Can’t really help it considering my master is the daughter of a preacher and that she’s forcing me on threat of a command seal to attend to his sermons._

_You are the one who told me what they were for._ A cheeky grin appeared on Kyoko’s face. _Might as well take advantage on them._

_You’re not converting me to your father’s flock anytime soon. Priests and I have less than amiable relations in the past._

_Well if I have to sit through his sermons then so do you. Even if you don’t actually show up with your body._

_You are a terrible influence on your sister._

_I know._

* * *

Kyoko whistled, her hands on the back of her head and her bag dangling off the side, as she took a quick stroll afterschool. Archer was off working at as a Cook at Café on the other side of the city, her father and mother were off somewhere on business, and there was still some time before her sister finished with her afterschool activities.

This left Kyoko, who was firmly in the go home club with nothing to do, but wander. She had a little spending money now thanks to Archer, but she would rather save that up for an emergency instead of spending it on that very enticing Takoyaki stand around the corner.

She quickly around turned around and tried to ignore the drool coming from her mouth when she noticed a woman walking towards a nearby alleyway. Normally it wouldn’t be anything of note but there was a dazed expression on her and a glassy look in her eyes. Like she was drugged and being led somewhere.

Not willing to leave this alone Kyoko quickly ran after her. She had barely caught up to the woman when she felt a strange fuzziness around her.

“Yo, what are you doing?” Kyoko asked as she quickly grabbed the woman’s shoulder. Even a novice magus like her could recognize the signs of magic in the air.

The woman brushed her off in silence and continued forward. There was a strange mark on the back of her neck as if someone had placed a spell on her.

Kyoko grabbed a nearby pipe, ready to knock the woman out and drag her to safety when the air in front of her suddenly cracked and before warping into a blurry kaleidoscope like image. There was something in there… and it just felt wrong.

Unfortunately, she was too busy staring in shock to stop the woman from stepping into the image and disappearing.

Her eyes went wide.

_What?_

She immediately looked seeing if there was anything nearby that could help. There wasn’t.

 _Archer,_ she mentally called out to him. _There’s something weird. Get over here now._

Kyoko bit her lip and stepped straight into the portal.

What she ended up seeing nearly made her drop the pipe she was using as a weapon.

If she wasn’t a Magus and wasn’t used to weird magic, courtesy of Archer, than by all rights she would’ve freaked out at the sights before her. As it was, she was seriously considering whether or not her school’s lunch had been laced with some sort of hallucinogenic LCD.

It was like she stepped into some Alice in Wonderland world painted by a five year old, only that five year old had a liking towards blood, twisted metal, and weird dog like creatures that were slowly making their way toward the woman who was now unconscious on the floor. It was clear by their very sharp teeth that those dogs were not here to play.

Or at least not any games that she wanted to play.

Kyoko quickly ran in front of the woman, gripped the pipe tightly, and lifted it up ready to strike.

“Trace on.”

Her first swing sent the first dog monster hurtling toward its friends like a baseball. She hesitated for a moment, looking at the damage she had done and the creature she had killed, when another monster jumped at her. The second swing caved in the head of another monster. Each swing brought death and carnage to the monsters in front of her, but in the end there were simply too many.

“Archer hurry up!” She shouted out her plea both physically and mentally as she found herself slowly surrounded. She could tell he had picked up speed at her plea, but he was still too far away.

Normally a Servant wouldn’t be so far from their Master, but he had assumed there wouldn’t be threat after months with no war going on. Not that she could blame him. Whatever this place was it had escaped his notice and he was damn good at detecting nearly everything. Even she didn’t realize what she was getting into until she had literally run into it.

Kyoko considered using the command seal, bring him to her side in an instant, but if she did that…

_Once you use up all three our contract will end, and I will be forcibly ejected from this world._

“Damn it!” Kyoko shouted as she upped the reinforcement on her arms forced herself to swing once more. She was a magus! She was supposed to be a hero! After all the time he had took training her was this all she could do? Could she not even hold out long enough for Archer to get to her.

Seven. Seven she had killed. And there were still so many of them.

Her body felt like it was burning is she overused her Magical Circuits, yet she still had to keep her Reinforcement up. She knew that once it was gone then she and the woman behind her would die.

She cursed and lifted up her right hand. A seal had to be used.

“Good job protecting that woman.”

Kyoko immediately turned around to find the source of that voice. It was another girl standing on a platform above her. She looked around her age, maybe a year or two older than she was, with beautiful blonde hair wrapped in pigtails and a very… substantial chest. Not that Kyoko was looking and trying to withhold a blush.

“Don’t worry I’ve got the rest.”

The girl suddenly jumped, not higher than Archer but certainly much higher than Kyoko ever could and summersaulted in the air. She was enveloped in flash of yellow light and suddenly a field of weapons appeared in the air above.

Projection? But unlike Archer this girl used actual guns.

They fired, completely overwhelming the monsters below until all that was left of them was a ground filled with craters.

“What the?” Kyoko whispered in amazement as the girl landed neatly on her feet wearing a brand-new outfit. She wore a beige skirt with black tips and with a shirt sleeved white shirt with puffs as a top. These clothes along with the leggings, hat, and boots, were just pure style.

_Pretty_

“What was that?” the girl turned around and asked.

Did she actually say that out loud!?

“Er I mean we- well-” Kyoko stammered on her words. She never stammered. “That was very impressive.”

The girl gave her a gentle smile as the world around faded and they were back in the alleyway. “Thank you, though you should also take some credit. It was brave of you to protect this woman and you most have a lot of potential if you can use magic without a contract,” she said as her outfit was replaced by an unfamiliar school uniform in a flash of light.

“Contract?”

“Oh, my apologies,” the girl grabbed the edges of her skirt and curtsied. “My name is Mami Tomoe and I am a magical girl.”


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm Kyoko Sakura," Kyoko replied to the girl as she tried to take in everything that she had just seen. A girl around the same age that she was had just killed a dangerous monster with apparent ease. All in a frilly yellow and white outfit while using some sort of Magic that was unlike Magecraft. The closest comparison to her guns was Archer's abilities to create blade, but even that wasn't very similar

"You're a magical girl?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes I-" Mami suddenly jumped back and transformed as a figure in red and black fell in front of her.

Archer immediately positioned himself in front of Kyoko while Mami immediately conjured a gun to point at him. If he was surprised by her transformation and magic, then he didn't show it.

"Who are you?" the magical girl asked with an uncertain edge in her voice.

A twin pair of blades, one black and one white, suddenly appeared in the hands of Kyoko's servant much to Mami's shock.

"Master what is your command?" Archer ignored the girl.

Kyoko grabbed her Servant's arm. "She's not going to hurt me. She saved me from those weird dog monsters."

"Dog monsters?" Archer immediately scanned the area. _There's nothing here are you sure it wasn't an illusion she created?_

_The dents on the pipe I had to use as a weapon says otherwise._

"They were familiars," Mami replied as she stared at Archer warily though she at least lowered her gun. "Creatures created by a witch to feast on people."

"What are witches?" Kyoko asked.

"They are creatures born of darkness that cause death and destruction wherever they go. It is the duty of magical girls to fight them," Mami explained.

_Tch… It's always something._

_Archer?_

_There is clearly much we don't know about this world._

"How did one end up here?" Kyoko asked. "How many are there?"

"They appear in places wherever people gather. Large cities will often teem with them."

"If these creatures do exist then why haven't we noticed them?" Archer asked.

"Witches and familiars hide themselves within labyrinths, where they are nearly impossible to detect by conventional means. Any people they kill will disappear leaving no traces. Only magical girls are able to track down and find these labyrinths in order to hunt them down."

"Fighting a monster on their own territory," Archer said. _Kyoko when you entered that labyrinth did it feel like that Bounded Field I showed you?_

Kyoko resisted the urge to shake her head. _No something else, it was like world had cracked and I had stepped into another dimension altogether._

_A Reality Marble?_

_What's that?_

_If that is the case,_ Archer seemed to be ignoring her, _and all of these creatures have access to one then it would make sense why I wouldn't have been aware of their existence if I wasn't looking for them._

"Who are you two by the way?" Mami asked cautiously. "You're certainly not Magical Girls, but you're still capable of magic."

_Tell her we're both Mages and keep your glove on at all times. Don't reveal that we are Master and Servant._

Kyoko gripped the back of her hand and rubbed the black leather gloves that she wore. _Understood._

"We're Magi," Kyoko told the magical girl

"Magi?" Mami asked.

"Those who practice Magecraft."

"Magecraft?"

 _The artificial reenactment of Mystery_ , a cutesy voice suddenly invaded Kyoko's mind.

Archer flinched as a figure suddenly jumped from a nearby building and down into the nearby alleyway. It was some strange white cat, if cats had large bunny ears with piercings and a red circle on their back. It was actually really cute all things considering, especially with that voice of its, and Kyoko might've squealed at the sight if the situation wasn't so tense.

 _It was an art that was supposed to have died out in this world_ , the creature continued. _My name is Kyubey._

 _Be careful._ Archer warned. _I can't sense a single thing from this creature. It could've been watching us all this time._

"Died out?" Mami asked the creature. She seemed rather comforted by its presence and had calmed down considerably.

 _Yes._ Kyubey replied. _During the Age of Gods Magecraft was ever-present and powerful. However, with the Age of Man it had declined up to the point where it had become extinct. Or so I thought, it seems that a few practitioners still exist._

"We have kept to yourselves," Archer replied. "And avoided trouble"

_Are there others?_

"Not that we are aware of."

_A shame. Magical Girls with the ability to use Magecraft were always very powerful in the distant past, though I will have to satisfied with the one in front of me._

Kyoko pointed to herself. "Are you talking about me?"

_Yes. You have the potential. Make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl!_

_Did we suddenly end in some sort of anime?_ Kyoko asked her servant. _There's even a cute mascot._

 _Honestly? I wouldn't be surprised at this point._ Archer replied. _And you consider that thing cute?_

"So, you want me to be magical girl, frilly costume and transformation and all that?" Kyoko asked.

 _Yes_. Kyubey replied.

"Even though I already know Magecraft?"

_By becoming a magical girl, you would be given a new power and type of magic in addition to the one you already have. By mixing the two together you would be quite powerful._

_Careful,_ Archer warned.

 _I'm not agreeing to anything just yet,_ Kyoko replied. _Just asking a few questions._

"And how would I become a Magical Girl?"

 _By forming a contract with me,_ Kyubey replied. _In exchange for fighting witches you will be given power and have a wish granted to you._

Kyoko's eyes went wide. "A wish?"

_Master. This has gone beyond suspicious at this point._

_Just shut it Archer! Let me talk to it._

Her servant stayed silent, but she could practically feel the disapproval emanating from his body.

"Any wish I want?" Kyoko asked.

 _Any wish you want,_ Kyubey confirmed.

"And no twists. This isn't like a monkey's paw or a demon tempting me into sin with desire, right?"

_Yes_

"Quote a bible verse. Any verse."

_Not by works, so that no one can boast_

"I don't remember that one," Kyoko admitted.

_Ephesians 2:9. I can assure that I was not sent by the devil to tempt a sinner._

_The devil can still quote the bible to deceive people._ Archer commented.

_Shut it!_

"Well I don't remember talking plushies being mentioned anywhere in the Bible," Kyoko said. "Or the history books for that matter."

 _We have taken great effort to hide ourselves from most people and Magi. Only magical girls and those with potential should know though,_ Kyubey glanced up at Archer, _we've made an exception for him._

Archer would've definitely made some sort of sarcastic retort if Kyoko hadn't forced him to remain silent.

"Perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere," Mami suggested as she gestured toward the woman on the ground who was beginning to stir. "I'd like to invite you two to my home… after we've taken this woman to the nearest hospital."

* * *

Between Mami's magical girl powers and Archer carrying Kyoko it only took less than hour to drop off the woman at the hospital and arrive at Mami's apartment even though it was at another city altogether.

Unfortunately for Kyoko, Archer spent all that time complaining.

_This is a bad idea._

_I'm well aware how you feel about this._ Kyoko replied.

_We are entering the enemy's home with no knowledge or preparation for what they might have for us there._

_Kyubey's weird, but Mami's not an enemy. She saved me!_

_And she could have done that for any number of reasons._

_Look neither Mami or… Kyubey has shown any intention on attacking…_ Kyoko grinned. _At least when you're not flashing them with your tiny swords._

_Hmph._

_Anyway, we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides you're more than strong enough to take them out if they cause any trouble._

_Negligence is the enemy. A single mistake is all it takes; it doesn't matter how strong you are._

_And you don't make mistakes._

_If only that was true._

All four of them landed on the balcony, where Mami would slide the window open and gesture them inside. After taking off her shoes and placing them on a shoe rack next to the window, apparently Mami used the balcony as an entrance and exit more often than the front door, Kyoko looked around Mami's home.

It was huge.

There was a large living room with a glass table in the center, all sorts of fancy furniture and knickknacks scattered around, stairs that led to her open bedroom above, and a kitchen that even Archer seemed impressed with. Clearly a rich girl who kept everything neat… yet there was only one bed and only one pair of slippers at the front door.

"Do you live alone?" Kyoko asked as she sat cross legged at the table. Archer didn't join her and instead leaned against a nearby wall.

"… Yes," Mami replied hesitantly as she worked in the kitchen. "Do you like cheesecake? I would've made some more cakes for you to choose from, but I wasn't expecting guests."

"Cheesecake is good," Kyoko replied.

Mami came out of the kitchen with three thick slices of cake and three cups balanced in her arms. With grace she carefully placed the plates onto the table and began filling the cups with tea from a kettle.

For a person who said they weren't expecting guests, she was certainly prepared to host them.

Mami took a seat at the table and Kyubey quickly laid itself on her lap. "Would you like to take a seat Mr… Archer? It must not be comfortable standing there like that," she ventured to the Servant.

Archer glanced at Mami and then at Kyoko who was very annoyed. Kyoko began pointing to the back of her hand. He ultimately decided to sit down at the table with them.

Satisfied with this Kyoko immediately took a bit and nearly shivered as the sweet and creamy flavor of the cake flooded her mouth.

"Wow!" Kyoko exclaimed. "Mami might be a better cook than you Archer!"

Mami looked pleased by that comparison. Archer on the other hand looked outright offended for some reason.

"That's… high praise," Archer replied as he carefully picked out a piece with his fork. "Especially when I've never baked you a cake before."

"Can't imagine you beating this though," Kyoko replied.

"You cook?" Mami asked.

"Yes," Archer replied before taking a bite. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "Not bad. I can see why my Master would praise it though there's room for improvement."

Mami's eyes squinted. "And what would you do differently then?" she said in a clearly challenging tone. Apparently, she didn't take insults to her cooking lightly.

"Add a bit of sea salt for some contrast with the sweetness and the cream. You know how to follow a recipe, but you also need to leave some room to experiment and build on what's already there," Archer replied in a thoughtful and almost condescending tone.

"Then perhaps you should bake sometime, and we can compare." There was a smile on the magical girl's face though it wasn't entirely pleasant. Kyoko could practically see the sparks being thrown between the two. "I'd like to see how someone who claims to be my better in cooking actually fares."

"I am not just a Baker," Archer replied. "Though the difference in our skill isn't your fault. It is the result of my rather substantial experience compared to a youth."

Mami tilted her head. "Are you calling me a child?"

"Hey! I didn't know you could bake a cake. Why don't you make one for Momo's birthday?" Kyoko butt in before things could get worse. "We should grab some ingredients and find a kitchen for you to work in."

"He's perfectly welcome to work in my kitchen so long as he doesn't make a mess," Mami replied.

Archer continued eating his cake. "I might take you up on that offer. Show you how a real chef works in the kitchen."

"So anyway. This is Archer and I'm Kyoko Sakura and we're Mages," Kyoko reintroduced herself and her Servant to their host.

The magical girl began petting the creature on her lap. "I am Mami Tomoe. And this is Kyubey our patron and the one who contracts Magical Girls." She glanced up at Archer. "Might I ask though is his real name Archer?"

"It is," Archer replied.

"Might I ask what your relation to Kyoko is then?"

"I teach Kyoko Magecraft." He glanced at her. "Among other things."

"Then why do you call her Master then?"

A familiar and infuriating smile appeared on Archer's face. "Why, because of how demanding my apprentice can be," he shook his head. "There are often times where I feel like the Servant."

 _That's because you are!_ Kyoko shouted to him in their mental connection.

"As you can see, she can be a rather… independent person."

"Well…" Mami began sipping her tea. "You certainly trained her well. She was able to hold her own against those familiars and protect that woman."

"What was wrong with her anyway?" Kyoko asked. "She just walked right into those things."

"That would be the witch's kiss. Witches feast on people by putting a spell on them that forces them to kill themselves or wander into their labyrinths."

"Hypnosis and Suggestion Magecraft?" Archer asked.

"Something like hypnosis," Mami replied. "Though it isn't very effective against people with magic like us, which is one of the reasons why magical girls are suited to hunting them."

"You say that magical girls are created to hunt witches. What makes them better at hunting them than the average magus?" Archer asked.

Mami fingered her ring and suddenly a brilliant yellow gem appeared on her hand. "This is a Soul Gem. The source of a Magical Girl's powers. It also allows us to detect and track the signature of witches and their familiars. It was how I ended up in Kazamino. The witch itself is holed somewhere in my territory but its familiars can wander quite far. There are no active Magical Girls in Kazamino that I am aware of so I went to deal with before it could hurt any people."

"Why not cut it off at the source. Hunt the witch itself if its closer?" Archer asked

"Some witches leave familiars behind even after their deaths so I would still have to hunt them before they hurt someone anyway. Fighting the familiars is a good way to discern their signature anyway, thanks to the last group I should be able to track down the witch's labyrinth."

"You're going to be fighting it in its own territory?"

"Yes. Though witches can move their labyrinths they rarely leave it. We have to fight them in their homes."

"Meaning you and other Magical Girls have to powerful monsters in their own home. Like dogs being led to slaughter," Archer replied plainly.

Mami paused at that comparison. "I can't deny the danger that us Magical Girls face when hunting witches. And there are those of us that do get hurt in our mission, but I can assure that I'll do my utmost to keep Kyoko safe."

Kyoko having finished with her cake began to wipe the crumbs on her sleeve, only to have Archer grab her arm and hand her a napkin instead. "So, in exchange for fighting witches which will kill innocent people if left alone, I'll be given any wish I ask for?" Kyoko asked as she wiped her mouth clean.

"Yes, though I must warn you to take your time and consider what it is you want to wish for. Kyubey might be able to grant you anything you want, but it might not always be for what's best for you… or what you actually wanted once you've given it further thought. It would be a great shame if you were to regret your wish."

"Do you regret yours?" Kyoko asked.

"In a way… My family was caught in a car accident that trapped all three of us in a flaming vehicle. It was then that Kyubey came to offer me a wish… so I wished to be saved." Mami set her teacup down. "However, my wish did not consider my parents… I was the only one who survived."

"I'm sorry," Kyoko replied.

"In the end due to my situation I wasn't given much time to consider my wish. If I did maybe…" the magical girl shook her hood. "You on the other hand have the opportunity to do so. Please make sure to find what it is that you truly want before you make your wish."

Kyoko looked at the magical girl with determined eyes. "I will."

"Master," Archer interjected. "Maybe you should reconsider?"

"I'm not going to be a magical girl right now… but I can at least take the time to think about what I would want to wish for."

Archer crossed his arms and remained silent.

"So those monsters I fought were familiars created by witches, right?" Kyoko asked Mami. "Then what is the actual witch like?"

"It is difficult to describe," Mami replied. "It is much easier if I were to show you it myself. I was able to discern a general area as to where the witch is. With some luck I'm sure we'll be able to find it now that I have its signature."

Kyoko turned to Archer who remained still. "We'll be happy to join you then."

* * *

**_A/N_ **

**Just had to edit in some information at the end to clarify things. This will be posted in the beginning of the next chapter also in case people missed it.**

**I've received a few comments asking why Archer can't just use structural analysis on Soul Gems or Magical Girls. That will be answered in the next chapter.**

**As for why he seems so threatened by the use of Command Seals, its because being in this world is essentially a vacation from being a Counter Guardian. He wants to hang around for as long as his current Master lives. That means he can't risk Kyoko using all the Command Seals early since he needs her to have them on her for a long time. Rule Breaker is an option, but that would mean finding another person with Magical potential to reestablish his contract with before he fades away. He has yet to find anyone else he would prefer as a Master, and though Kyoko is troublesome and naive, she is at least far from malicious. Also, her being an inexperienced 12 year old makes him a bit more lenient toward her than he normally would be.**


	3. Chapter 3

Archer?"

"Yes?"

"Do you really need to keep looking at Mami like that?" Kyoko asked as they followed Mami from a distance. "You like you're ready to kill her."

"I am," Archer replied without hesitation. He continued glaring at the Magical Girl unashamedly.

"Oh- just. Fine, whatever."

"You seem to be staring at her too. Have you taken an interest in her?" her Servant asked.

There was no helping the furious blaze in Kyoko's cheek as her face quickly turned crimson. "No! I mean, she's nice and… pretty… and…"

"I am the last person to ever judge your preferences," Archer replied plainly.

"You know?"

"I'm surprised your father still hasn't figured it out."

Thank god that her father unconventional teachings also meant that he was generally accepting of gay marriage, a stark contrast to majority of their faith. Still wouldn't make the inevitable talk any less awkward.

Not that she was thinking of getting married already. She was still too young! Though… Mami really was pretty…

"Master, you're staring at her butt again."

"No, I'm not," Kyoko quickly denied.

"Because you prefer her breasts."

She began ineffectually punched his arm. "Just shut up already."

"Remember that Magical power is prone to merge with the bodies flui-"

"Jesus Christ Archer would you stop giving me the talk already!"

Tantric s-… intercourse magical exchange. Sounded like something straight out of a satanic ritual the bible warned about, just toss in a demon and an evil witch or two. Well, technically they were going to hunt the latter and Archer might as well be considered a dem- Ok best to kill that train of thought.

Much to her relief her Servant remained quiet for the rest of the trip, having been sufficiently entertained by her reactions. They eventually reached a park where Mami began holding her Soul Gem aloft.

"The witch is nearby," Mami said as her Soul Gem lit up like some sort of witch radar.

"Yes, I would say that it is like a witch radar," Mami replied.

"Oh, damn did I say that out loud," Kyoko said.

"You need to fix that habit of yours," Archer said.

"Shut it!"

Mami chuckled at the two of them. "Before we go in, we should make sure Kyoko is armed. A pipe might not be the most effective weapon for hunting witches."

"I agree," Kyoko replied. Archer created a large spear and casually tossed it to her. She caught it, gave it a few practiced twirl, and jabbed its metal tip into the ground.

"Your magic allows you to create any weapon you want?" Mami asked curiously.

"Projection Magecraft," Kyoko replied for him. "You can use it to replicate object though he's best with bladed weapons."

"And the strength you used previously?"

"Reinforcement." Kyoko used her magic on the spear. "Allows me to strengthen my body and any object I though."

"Interesting. Both of those spells are quite similar to what I can do with my magic," Mami observed.

 _Magecraft is quite flexible so long as you can work with the confines of this world,_ Kyubey commented. _Though it generally lacks the power that a Magical Girl Contract bestows. A witch would still be a dangerous foe for two average Mages._

"Oh, don't worry," Kyoko waved it off. "Archer's far from average."

"I look forward to seeing his performance then." Mami turned around and led them deeper within the park.

Soon enough, Kyoko would feel the air crackling once more.

 _I feel it Master._ Archer commented. _Pain, regret, despair, so much of it that permeates the air around us. To think that this phenomena could be concentrated to such a small area._

 _The labyrinth I was in was lot bigger once I actually entered it. I'd assume this one is the same._ Kyoko replied.

_So not just a Reality Marble but Spatial Manipulation too._

Mami raised her Soul Gem aloft revealing a familiar ripple in the air along with a glowing purple symbol. "This is the entrance to the witch's labyrinth. Are you both prepared?"

Archer silently conjured his blades while Kyoko hefted her spear. "We are."

They stepped inside. The inside of the labyrinth was just as freaky as Kyoko remembered it. Even Archer couldn't help but show his surprise.

 _I see what she meant when she said it was hard to explain._ Archer scanned their surroundings. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you drugged our tea," he said to Mami.

"It wouldn't be the first I've heard that," Mami replied.

"You've brought other people into labyrinths before?" Kyoko asked.

"Other magical girls and a few capable of making contracts."

"What happened to them?" Kyoko asked.

"Some are in elsewhere in their own territories, and others…"

That silence was all the answer Kyoko needed.

"How do you do this? By yourself?" Kyoko asked.

"It's my duty as Magical Girl," Mami replied. "To protect the people and defeat the witches that threaten them. If I don't do it then who else will?"

"You fight for duty, but there is more to life than a duty or an ideal," Archer suddenly commented as the first wave of dog monsters, or familiars of Mami called them, appeared.

"Perhaps… but I have committed myself to this. Besides," she glanced at Kyoko and gave her a smile. "I would be a terrible example to my Juniors if I gave up now." The magical girl conjured up an array of muskets before jumping straight into the fray.

 _She's impressive,_ Kyoko commented as she watched the Magical Girl practically dance across the battlefield. The sounds of her muskets firing resembled a barrage of cannons, sending her ears ringing even from this distance. Every musket Mami fired was quickly replaced by another one she conjured in one continuous motion, quickly dispatching wave after wave of the familiars.

Archer remained silent as replaced his blades with a large black bow. He quickly nocked it and fired a continuous barrage of arrows to lighten the pressure off the magical girl _._

Mami turned back at him surprise. His response was to simply fire an arrow that went past her face and hit a familiar that had been trying to strike her while she was distracted. The Magical Girl yelped at that and turned back around to fight. She swung a ribbon and used it to trip up a few familiars before turning that into yet another gun in her hands.

 _Ribbon magic… that can be transformed into weapons._ Archer observed. _Almost like a Mystic Code…_

 _So how well do you think she fights?_ Kyoko asked.

_She gets distracted easily. Needs to be paying attention especially when she's letting them get close._

_That's on purpose?_

_It's so she can beat them aside with her musket using the momentum and force it generates after a shot. Efficient use of kinetic energy, but-_ he fired an arrow and landed a prompt headshot against a familiar that had begun to sneak up on the Magical Girl's back. _Her situational awareness needs work and it would have been better to let them approach not the other way around._ _She's clearly just trying to show off._

 _And you aren't?_ Kyoko gestured toward the battlefield that had already been littered with his arrows.

 _I'm simply doing what's neccesary,_ Archer replied as he sent out another volley.

_Maybe you should go in help her then. You're more suited to close combat then she is._

_Are you sure it's wise for us to split up?_

_You and I both know you can help me at any time. Besides I can take care of a few stragglers._

_As you wish._

Archer dematerialized his bow and took out his signature weapons. Kanchou and Bakuya he called them, twin blades of black and white respectively with a bond that would cause them to return to one another when separated. Kyoko had initially tried the twin blade style herself upon seeing Archer use it, but they quickly realized that it didn't suit her. No, the spear was best for her. Simple to learn and use, but deceptively difficult to master.

With just a few quick hops, Archer leaped into the fray and joined Mami at her side. The Magical Girl looked at him in shock again but quickly adapted to his presence and began fighting alongside him.

He hardly needed the help though.

Whereas Mami was a graceful and acrobatic dancer, Archer could only be described as death incarnate. A machine programmed to do a single task with quick ruthless efficiency. Every move was meant to kill, every swing was death to the enemy in front of him. He had no style, no form, just the experience of countless battlefields and the will to have survived them all.

Watching him was always more frightening than impressive, but there was some sort of savage beauty to the way he fought that always made it hard for Kyoko to look away.

She didn't let herself get too distracted though as she noticed a familiar jumping at her. She quickly swung her spear cutting the familiar in half with its tip, then in that same motion pivoted to crush another familiar with its shaft.

Another three familiars charged at her in practically a line. These she dealt with by doing three sequential and practiced thrusts. She then twirled her spear to show off a little before casually jabbing a familiar behind her.

According to Archer she was quite the natural with a spear and her style was reminiscent was that of a dog's. She didn't know any dogs that could hold a spear though. Even then, it was probably a compliment… probably.

Anyway, it was each easier dispatching of these things now that she had a proper weapon that didn't require so much Od pumped into it to be effective. What stragglers were left for her were quickly dealt with as she followed her companions from a distance.

After several of minutes of charging through the labyrinth fighting through familiars, one of which Kyoko had the joy of punching into a wall, she eventually caught up to her two companions as they arrived at a room where the walls had become a sort of giant metal dome cage. In the center of the cage was some unholy amalgamation of man and beast. It was as if someone had taken the head and chest of a dog, stuck it with human limbs, inverted so that it was inside out, drew on its face using crayon, and then gave it a large yet goofy red bell for good measure around its neck.

"Ok, so you definitely drugged the tea," Kyoko commented.

"Not the strangest witch I've seen to be honest," Mami replied.

"These things get weirder?"

"Try combining a tentacle monster with a giant set of bagpipes. It even had a nice kilt."

"Anything we should know about this particular witch?" Archer asked.

"Every witch is unique, though you can get some insight as to what they are like through their familiars. It'll probably attack us once we enter its territory and it might have other tricks that we'll have to watch for."

"Adapt on the fly then," Archer replied as he dematerialized his twin blades and replaced it with a spear that caused both Kyoko and Mami to flinch at its presence

"What is that?" Kyoko asked.

The spear was long and crimson and seemed to pulse with some sort of demonic energy. Its very existence began creating minor cracks in the air of the labyrinth around them.

"Are planning to fight up front with that spear?" Mami asked

Archer remained silent remained as he began pumping his Prana into the weapon. The spear began changing, it twisted and curled upon itself until it was distorted version of what it once was. Some sort of strange, yet unnatural, coiled sword that seemed ready to break apart at any moment.

Kyoko wondered why he would do that to his weapon when he suddenly conjured his large black bow and nocked sword against the strong. No, not a sword, she realized as her eyes went wide. A makeshift arrow.

Both she and Mami could only stare in awe as he let loose the arrow from his bow. It flew like a missile straight at the witch. The twisted monster only had a moment to notice the projectile heading its way before it struck. The labyrinth cracked where it had struck cracked, the arrow exploded in a red light, and when the dust faded there was a large gaping crater in the middle of its chest. Somehow though, the creature remained standing.

"Tougher than I thought," Archer said with an eye raised as the witch howled and began charging at them despite the damage it had taken. He quickly grabbed Kyoko, hefted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and jumped to the side while Mami somersaulted out of the way.

"That could be the case," Mami replied having regained her composure. She grabbed and hung off a metal bar as she fired her rifles. "Or that might not be its actual body."

"In that case either a summoned creature or a Projected body," Archer said as he landed on the ground. "Means we'll have to find the source." He jumped away as it threw some black sludge at him. "It also seems to be focusing on me."

"Considering the damage, you just dealt it? I wouldn't be surprised," Kyoko commented. The witch seemed hell bent on smashing Archer, even going as far as to ignore the many bullets Mami was shooting into its body.

"That's fine." Archer put Kyoko down and took out his twin blades. "You two search for its real body."

"Are you sure you can handle it by yourself?" Mami asked.

Archer stood still as the witch charged and wound up for a punch. He quickly sidestepped the punch and left a long gash a long gash along its arm with his Bakuya. He then ducked under the witch's next swing, lashed out with his Kanshou, and quickly leaped away. As he flew in the air, he threw his blades into the witch's body before immediately conjuring a new pair in his own hands.

"I think he's got this," Kyoko commented as Mami leaped off the metal bar and landed next to her.

"I agree," the magical girl replied.

The two of them ran off to find the witch's real body. However, after several minutes of running around the area it became apparent that there was nothing else in the cage except for the three of them, Kyubey who was off observing in the distance, and the monster.

"Are we sure that thing is not its actual body?" Kyoko pointed to where Archer still thought. At some point he had begun throwing around multiple copies of his swords which were now embedded deeply across its back, arms, and chest.

The Servant and Witch played a dangerous game of cat and mouse where a single mistake would've led to him being devastated by a single blow. Unlike a mouse however Archer was fully keen on rushing into the witch's range whenever he saw an opening. The way he fought seemed suicidal, as a single mistake would mean death. Yet he never made that mistake.

He probably wasn't in any danger at all, despite appearances. However, it was best not to stall with him. He could be surprisingly impatient sometimes.

Mami shook her head. "That… arrow should've torn that witch apart completely or at least crippled it. But it's still fighting at full strength, it can't be the real body."

"Then what else could it be? There's nothing else in here except this damn cage."

"Cage," Mami looked up at the center of the dome and her eyes lit up in epiphany. "That's it."

Similar to when Archer had shot his "arrow," Kyoko could only stare in awe as Mami pulled at a ribbon on her chest, let it loose in the air, and turned it into a gun as large as Archer was. It was amazing how graceful she looked, and not stupid, hefting that damn thing against her body.

"What are you doing!?" Kyoko asked.

Mami's eyes became steel as she pointed the gun at the ceiling.

"Tiro Finale!"

The gun fired like a tank and shot a ball of brilliant golden light toward the ceiling. Even Archer had to glance momentarily to watch as the bullet flew brilliantly at the top of the cage. It hit the center of the dome and exploded in a brilliant yellow light that began to consume everything around it.

It was almost blinding, yet Kyoko couldn't help but continue watching as the explosion broke the cage at its center and caused the rest of its walls to collapse around them.

The thing that Archer had been fighting promptly collapsed and began to dissolve into darkness, much like the shards of metal that fell around them. He promptly dissolved his blades and made his way towards the two of them.

He stood in front of the magical girl and seemed to appraise girl. The Magical Girl likewise continued staring at him. They stayed like that in silence for a brief moment before Archer finally spoke.

"Not bad."

Mami was shocked at first, but then began glow at his praise once the words sank in. "I simply made the most logical choice at the time. You were very impressive though. I couldn't ever imagine fighting it the way you did."

Archer on the other hand simply took the magical girl's praise in silence as the labyrinth broke apart around them. Soon enough they were returned to the park, though not before a strange black jewel fell on the ground in front of them.

"What is that?" Archer asked as Mami bent down to pick it up.

"This is a grief seed. A witch's egg." The magical girl showed the grief seed in the palm of her hand. "Witches carry them, and they'll drop after they are defeated."

Mami summoned her Soul Gem in other hand and held it up.

"It's darker now," Kyoko commented. It wasn't the same brilliant yellow it was before. It was a bit muddier.

"When a Magical Girl expends her magic during a fight their Soul Gem gradually grows darker, but if I do this." Mami brought the two closer together. Suddenly black lights flew out of her Soul Gem and straight into the grief seed. The Gem was now returned to its brilliant yellow color. "Then the magic I expended in the fight is restored."

"Are they safe?" Archer asked suspiciously.

 _In that state they are harmless,_ Kyubey hopped down next to them.

"And what would cause its state to change then?"

"There is a limit to how much magic grief seeds can restore which is determined by the strength of the witch you've defeated," Mami answered. "Once used up then the seed might become a witch again if left alone, though thankfully Kyubey is here to deal with its disposal."

"How does it dispose of them?" Archer asked.

_They are stored in a hole in my back before being taken to be processed._

Archer looked at Kyubey with an eye raised.

"I'd show you myself, but this seed still has a few more uses on it. It would be best not to waste it," Mami said.

"Could I take a look at that?" Archer asked.

Mami put the grief seed in his hand and he immediately began pumping his Prana into it. Something was wrong though judging by the dissatisfied look on his face.

 _What's wrong?_ Kyoko asked.

Archer squinted his eyes and concentrated even more on the grief seed in his hands. _I can't analyze this Master._

 _What!?_ Kyoko tried to hide her surprise. _You can analyze anything! Even my kitchen sink!_

_I'm well aware, but there is something stopping me. But if it's what I suspect…_

Mami held her hand out to take back the grief seed, only for Archer to suddenly grab her by the hand.

"What!?" Mami's eyes widened.

"Archer!" Kyoko shouted.

"Tch," Archer let go a few seconds later. _I can't analyze her body either. Whatever that incubator does, it seems to block my Structural Analysis._

 _I wouldn't suggest trying to analyze her body,_ Kyubey said, having seen through Archer's actions. _Though Magecraft can be used in conjunction with True Magic, it can't be used to analyze something that is beyond the understanding of your species._

"True Magic?" Mami asked.

"Magecraft can only do what is scientifically possible. True magic does the impossible." Archer told her. _And is apparently what this incubator uses to form a contract, creating objects and bodies like Divine Constructs._

 _Impossible for your species perhaps. Not for ours,_ Kyubey replied.

 _What are witches then, if I'm unable to analyze them too?_ Archer asked Kyoko.

She didn't have an answer for him.

_So long as it was made by the world, I can analyze it with my magic. However magical artifacts not created by human hands or beings of another world are outside my ability to analyze._

"Are you from another world?" Kyoko asked Kyubey

 _Yes,_ it replied

 _That makes them dangerous beyond imagination,_ Archer warned. _Especially since they aren't bound by the rules and logic of this world_

 _They don't seem hostile for aliens though,_ Kyoko replied.

_You are rather calm about this revelation Master._

_Well I mean… aren't most mascots from magical girl anime otherworldly creatures anyway?_

Kyoko could practically hear the man face palm in their mental connection.

… _This isn't an anime, Master!_ Archer argued.

_Could've fooled me. Besides maybe those anime were created and inspired by the fact that Magical Girls actually exist. According to Kyubey, they've been around for a long time._

_That… is not entirely implausible._ Archer admitted. _But it's best not to assume that this is a friendly mascot._

_I could say the same about assuming their hostility. Just being because they're aliens, doesn't mean it's going to be like War of the Worlds._

"Wait." Everyone there turned to Mami, who seemed completely stumped by what Archer and Kyubey had just said. "Kyubey, you're an alien?"

_I am. I have told you that we do not originate from this world._

"You did, but I just never really thought of it that way…" Mami shock turned to awe. "Real life aliens. Humanity has been looking for proof of other life for thousands of years, and now it's right in front of us."

 _I think we broke her,_ Kyoko commented.

Archer returned the grief seed to Mami. "It would be best that you held onto this. You Magical Girls seem completely dependent on these seeds."

"That is true," Mami replied.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked.

"That magic that Magical Girls have don't restore naturally like your Prana does," he explained. "They need to use these grief seeds to restore the magic they use, but that means killing witches. So, what happens then if a girl uses up most of her magic and then has to go fight a witch in order to restore it?"

"They'd be helpless," Kyoko realized.

He nodded. "Fighting witches for their grief seeds becomes a necessity for Magical Girls to survive. A vicious cycle of combat that doesn't end until their deaths. An endless war essentially."

Mami looked solemn but he didn't deny his words. "To be a Magical Girl means to always face death. But in exchange for a wish and the power to help those unable to help themselves? I believe that is a fair exchange."

 _Magecraft restores itself though,_ Kyubey said. _So, she'll always have some way to fight even if her Soul Gem weakens._

"Which I means I won't suffer from the same weaknesses as other Magical Girls," Kyoko replied. "Or at least not as easily. And if I were to use a Soul Gem and Magecraft together in a pinch…"It was almost enough to get her to shudder in excitement. Archer was impressive with his Magecraft alone, but to be able do that in combination to some of the magic that Mami ended showing off…

 _Perhaps Master, you should see what the contract fully entails before accepting it_ , Archer suggested.

 _I know,_ Kyoko waved him off.

"Make sure to think about it carefully," Mami said with a reassuring smile on her face. "And if you need any advice you can always come to my apartment."

In the end Kyoko was left with a very important question. What was it that she wanted to wish for?

* * *

 _So, Archer it's about time you tell what you think is weird about those grief seeds,_ Kyoko asked her servant from the comfort of her bed. After splitting up with Mami it was simple enough to sneak back into the house in the middle of the night. Momo had been awake to see her crawling through the window, but Kyoko knew her sister would keep silent for her sake.

_Apart from the fact that they seem to come from creatures made of some form of True Magic?_

_Yes._

_You remember how the labyrinth worked? That grief seed is the same but on a smaller scale. Inside is an entirely different world, a Reality Marble that every witch seems to reside in._

_What is a Reality Marble anyway? You keep mentioning that but you haven't explained it yet._

… _It is the materialization and projection of one's inner world into reality. They are the pinnacle of all Bounded Fields where the boundary line becomes the space itself._

After being trained and lectured by Archer for a few months she more or less understood him whenever he went on these tangents about Magical theory.

 _So, the reason we can't detect witches easily is because they have released their inner worlds into reality,_ Kyoko commented. _And then hide within them._

_Yes, though to imagine so many of these creatures with access with this ability is frightening indeed._

_How so?_

_Gaia does not take the disruption of its natural laws well. It will constantly attempt to crush these worlds that go against it, meaning that it takes a great deal of energy to construct one and keep it running. The few people and creatures capable of creating one, would by all rights be only to maintain it in this world for a few minutes. Even the strongest of Dead Apostles can't maintain a Reality Marble for more than a single night._

_Dead Apostles?_

_Vampires._

_Okay, ignoring the fact that Twilight is apparently based on real life events-_

_It isn't._

_We can assume that witches are incredibly powerful creatures because they can use Reality Marbles._

_Except the one we fought wasn't that powerful, yet it still had access to one. Even that yellow haired Magical Girl is capable of hunting them on her own, despite the difference in our strength._

_What does that mean then?_

_Hmm… very few Magi are capable of manifesting a Reality Marble. It is a rejection of reality, an overwriting of the rules of this world. It is fundamentally the abilities of beings like Demons or the Dead Apostles, since their "common sense" isn't the same logic as our world. Your mind must work differently, you must believe and exist in a way that contradicts how the world works in the first place, in order to have your own world manifest. That is why few humans are ever capable of it, since nearly all are bound to the thinking and logic of this world._

_What are witches then? Demons? Vampires? Aliens?_

_I'm not sure. However, they are clearly broken. And being broken is a pathway to manifesting a Reality Marble._

_That still means that witches are essentially broken otherworldly monsters. They don't think like we do, they're creatures that have rejected the very logic of this world!_

_Indeed. That would be my assumption. But could the same be said about Kyubey?_

_Kyubey hasn't shown us hostility though. Witches do. Isn't that even more reason for us to go and hunt them?_

_They are a threat, but do you really need to take up the duty to hunt them? There are other Magical Girls out there apparently fighting this endless war. Have you not considered simply living your own life?_

_I'm already a girl with magical powers. I don't think I was meant for a normal life and besides I learned Magecraft so that I could help my family and other people. I want to continue fighting witches… I want to be a Magical Girl._

_You don't have to become a Magical Girl then. You've been making excellent progress with your Magecraft._

_I could barely hold off those familiars, much less that witch._

_You're still young and have plenty of room to grow. Focus on training and let me protect you until you're capable of standing on your own._

_But how long will that take Archer? If there are as many of these witches out there as Mami says there are then who knows how many people could get hurt. All because I was still busy training when the power I need is right there._

_Icarus's wings burned because he flew too close to the sun. If you rush to do something before you're ready for it-_

_I'll be ready if I become a Magical Girl! And Mami will also be there to teach me so that I don't get hurt!_

_You don't know that. There's a good chance you'll regret this decision if you rush to make it._

_Did Kyubey or Mami ever lie to us?_

… _Not that I can tell. But that doesn't mean that they were telling the whole truth._

_Then I'll ask them more questions make sure to get all the information I need. What's the problem with me making this decision once I'm fully informed?_

_Because you can never know enough, there's always something that you don't realize you've missed until it's too late._

_If I always think like you do then I'll never get anything done. I've already asked Kyubey all the questions I needed._

_Do you already have a wish then?_

… _I do_

_What is it?_

_I'm going to have people listen come to my father's Church and listen to him seriously._

_Mind Control?_

_No, just have them want to come in and give his sermons a shot. Have them consider his words. Then they can decide whether they want to continue attending or not._

_That is a surprisingly… modest wish. And for another person._

Kyoko shrugged. _I know, but I just want to help out my family. Then once they're fine, I want the strength to help others._

_Why do you want to help people that you don't know? People that will never know what you've done. You'll never be rewarded, never be appreciated. So why do you do it?_

_Because isn't it the right thing to do?_

…

_There's nothing wrong with wanting to help people, right?_

_You will suffer for your decision. The world is not kind to people like you._

_And I'll accept that. The question is, do you?_

Archer remained silent before severing their connection.

"That could've gone better," Kyoko muttered to herself before finally going to sleep.

That night though, she dreamed. It wasn't the first time she had these strange dreams either, she just never thought to tell Archer. If he could keep his secrets, then so could she. Besides knowing him, he probably already knew anyway.

Once she dreamed of a boy with crimson hair like her. A boy who would always go out of his way to help people. Always putting their safety before his, always being the first one to stand at the first time of trouble. Whether it was a broken heater, a small girl being bullied by boys much larger than he, or the impossible height of a high jump, he would always be there. Even if he was weak, even if it seemed impossible, he still fought.

Another night she dreamed of that boy fighting alongside a girl with yellow hair clad in brilliant blue and white armor. Her sword shined magnificently with a holy light, decreeing its wielder as the hero she was. A hero that he fought along, bled with, and loved. A hero that that showed the boy everything he wanted to be, everything he could be, was right in front of him.

That night though she dreamed of a man with black hair and ever-present fatigue on his face. She dreamed of that man with a weary smile yet a truly caring heart. She dreamed of that man causing a fire in the kitchen forcing her to take up cooking, if only to keep their house standing.

She dreamed of moments of happiness, moments of silence, and signs of regret. He always did his best to treat her well but there was always a part of him that seemed to be missing. A part of himself that he could never get back.

Finally, she dreamed of that man and her sitting on a porch. The gentle light of the moon shined down on them. She listened to a dream gone unfulfilled, of the regrets of a man who failed and ultimately abandoned his ideals. A man who sacrificed everything but gained nothing in return.

Her savior, her hero, it was because of him that she made a promise. A promise that one day she would fulfill his lost dream for him.

That one day she would become a Hero of Justice.

The man smiled at her words. He closed his eyes and rested on that porch.

For he could finally be at peace.

* * *

Magical Girl, Witches, whatever that damn thing Kyubey was. Nothing could ever be simple no matter what world Archer ended up in.

The Soul Gems and Grief Seeds were more akin to Divine Constructs than they were Mystic Codes. There was something he was missing, something that seemed to connect Magical Girls and Witches, but he couldn't figure it out. If he had more time to investigate maybe interrogate the Kyubey creature, but no. His Master wouldn't give him that time. She was a hopelessly stubborn fool that was going to sign that contract no matter what.

But… she wasn't entirely hopeless.

She was an idiot and a fool, but she wasn't trying to chase an impossible ideal. She was acting the hero, but she wasn't trying to become a Hero of Justice. Similar, but fundamentally different. Something he didn't like but could begrudgingly tolerate.

In the end there wasn't anything wrong with wanting to help people, that was a part of himself that would never change. However, he also knew what it was like to sign a bad deal. Especially when the one that drafted the contract was so eager to have her sign it.

As it was, Kyubey was standing on a building overlooking his Master's home. Ready to swoop in like a hawk and have the contract made the second it saw a chance. He would have to keep that thing away from his master, interrogate it, and then kill it if neccesary. Doing that might anger her and turn that other Magical Girl into an enemy, but he couldn't risk the alternative. That thing didn't lie, but it kept secrets and told half-truths. He of all people would know that and of how dangerous that could be.

He quickly made his way toward the creature's location, ready to get some answers.

What a foolish yet loyal servant he was. Perhaps that was why he summoned by this girl.

* * *

Strange… how strange.

The sun shined brightly that morning, though the Incubator hardly cared for the warmth. It sat atop a nearby building overlooking the home of Kyoko Sakura, the girl with whom it hoped would contract.

The Magus, the male one, was an unknown variable. Certainly, more than he appeared and very capable. Normally the Incubator wouldn't risk showing itself to a person like him, not with as little information as it had, but the amount of energy the girl would create upon her contract was worth the risk.

She seemed already prepared to make her wish anyway. All it needed to do now was separate her from her protector and its plan for that was already in motion

A figure in black and red dropped down behind it. That took less time than its initial calculations had predicted. Very quick and observant, it would have to move more carefully around him in the future.

 _You found me,_ the Incubator replied as it continued swaying its tail.

The man known as Archer grabbed it by its tail and dragged it into the air. He put an iridescent and jagged dagger under its neck.

A weapon that destroys all thaumaturgy. Very akin to a Noble Phantasm, but it couldn't be one. Those had long since gone extinct, the Incubator's species had made certain of that. They simply couldn't allow weapons that could threaten them to exist, even if they were the last remnants of the Mages that had been so interesting to study. This dagger and that spear he had used previously had to be inferior copies he had made then. A magus trying to replicate things long gone.

If he had any more weapons like this… well it certainly called for further caution around him. The Incubator was actually quite fortunate that this particular weapon wouldn't have an affect against it. Though if he tried to use it on his student after she contracted…

"What is the purpose of the contract? What do you gain from all of this?"

_Delaying entropy._

Archer raised an eye.

_The energy created from a contract will be converted and used to prevent the heat death of the universe._

The Incubator wouldn't go far as to dispose of him just yet. He was still interesting to study and it would placate his student if it continued to cooperate when it could.

"You expect me to believe that?"

_I am currently no danger to you. I do not lie. You must have realized that by now._

"That truth can change and that doesn't mean you speak the entire truth."

_That dagger has no effect on me and if you use it on a Magical Girl, then they will die._

Archer's eyes went wide.

 _That was what you planned in case your student contracted, correct? After testing it on another Magical Girl, Mami most likely. Other than that, you already know what you need to know._ The Incubator glanced towards the direction of the girl's home.

Good.

Its other body had already infiltrated the premises without him knowing. Losing this one would be worth the cost it if she contracted. It was always meant to be the distraction after all.

"Is there any way to get rid of the contract once it has been made?" Archer asked.

_Only by a wish perhaps._

Archer drew his knife close to the Incubator's neck until it began to draw blood. "And willingly sacrifice another girl to an endless war? For what? To gather some energy?"

_It is the most efficient method we've devised to gather energy; all others are inferior and will lead to countless death. Doesn't it make sense to sacrifice the few to save the many? Kill millions to save trillions in the future?_

The man's eye dilated.

Was that the wrong thing to say?

Kyubey watched as one of its ears fluttered in the wind and eventually landed on the ground below them

Apparently, it was.

How contradictory, for a man as careful and calculating as he was to reject the pure logic presented to him. But then again, all humans were illogical that way.

"You will tell me everything," Archer said.

 _Under threat of destruction?_ Kyubey asked.

"What do you think?"

_I believe that this body is worth discarding, now that I've fulfilled my purpose._

"Body?" Archer's eyes went wide as he finally processed its words. He plunged his knife into its neck and swiftly decapitated it before making his way back to the house. It was too late though.

A brilliant red light, unseen by those who didn't possess magic, already shined from the backyard.

The contract had been made.

And with that entropy would be delayed.

* * *

_**A/N** _

**Dream Cycle can be a real bitch sometimes, especially on an impressionable twelve-year-old girl.**

**Anyway, Archer is a contradictory person in nature. That makes him a very difficult character to write yet so very interesting to try and put in this story. I can only hope that I've portrayed him in an adequate way despite these challenges.**

**As for why he goes so far for Kyoko, in the end he is a loyal servant. Despite being cynical and nihilistic he is still a protective person, going as for as to sacrifice himself for Rin and Co. in the Fate route and Heavens Feel movie.**

**Even when his priority is to kill Shirou, going as far as to "betray" Rin, he does it in a way that sets Rin up with Saber. Throughout the UBW route he intended to let Rin win the Grail War with Saber. He is the sort of person that will do what he thinks is best for his master, even if it isn't what they might want or ever expected from him.**


	4. Chapter 4

"That is a lot of familiars," Mami admitted to herself as she looked the veritable army blocking her path. A Tiro Finale or two would clear the way quick, but due to its high cost she would rather just save that for the witch. On the other hand, the longer this witch was still alive the more danger the people that had been led to the labyrinth would be. She had already put a barrier around the three she had run into, but she knew that there were several more, deeper inside. Slowing down meant likely sacrificing those people that were about to be eaten by a witch, but if she exhausted herself and died against it in a fight there was a good chance that she would save no one. And that wasn't counting the countless other lives the witch would take as it grew stronger and continued on its rampage.

Her decision made, Mami raised her rifles only to hear a familiar scream in the distance.

"Trace on!"

A red blur descended like a comet and plowed through the wave of familiars like it was nothing. Segmented spear in hand, Kyoko detached its links mid-swing and let it lash out against everything around her. The weapon that she had gained upon becoming a Magical Girl, a fearsome and surprisingly adaptable weapon that seemed an extension of Kyoko's self. As she fought her dark red dress fluttered brilliantly in the ensuing carnage. The white frills on the borders of her outfit, the pleated pink skirt, and the black corset she wore underneath the dress provided a beautiful contrast to her form.

Apparently, Tracing wasn't even a field of Magic that Kyoko could even use, it was just a catch phrase she picked up from Archer that she used whenever she activated her circuits. Mami could certainly and she had even helped her Junior come up with names for some of her attacks.

"Flaming Spear Charge!"

Some of those names could use some work though.

Mami simply shook her head with a smile and began to pick off the stragglers that had avoided the initial charge. "Are you sure you should be transforming so quickly?" she asked as she quickly fell in behind Kyoko. She counted at least three corpses as they ran further in, but also two people that were still alive thanks to Kyoko's intervention. It was a shame they couldn't help everyone but just those two would be enough.

Kyoko swung a rune covered arm and released a deluge of flame at her enemy. Magecraft combined with her natural affinity for fire as a Magical Girl. The fact that her Magecraft also happened to be aligned to the element of flame made her fire that much more potent. "If we take too long more people will get hurt." She continued to twirl her spear to fan the flames. "Besides I know you can handle the witch yourself, just let me make sure you're at your best when you fight it."

With no argument against that plan, Mami simply stayed behind Kyoko as she continued carving a bloody path through the familiars. An all-consuming wildfire, an unstoppable force, that was what Kyoko was like when she in her element. There was simply no argument to be had until she ran out of fuel to burn. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you saw it, it burned out quick and twenty seconds was all it would take for Kyoko to exhaust herself this time. Though to her credit they did end up reaching the entrance to the witch's chambers in that time.

"Are you ok Sakura?" Mami asked worriedly as Kyoko began panting in front of the door. It wasn't the first time her Juniors had pushed herself despite her constant warnings.

"I'll be fine," Kyoko replied as she jabbed her spear into the ground and leaned against it. She looked like she was ready to drop at any moment.

A familiar jumped at the red Magical Girl from the side and sliced her neck with a cleaver. Rather than getting decapitated though, Kyoko simply faded away.

"Rosso Fantasma," the real one said with a smirk as she stabbed the familiar through its back. Illusion magic, Kyoko's unique magic as a Magical Girl that came from her wish. It wasn't just limited to afterimages either, she could also leave Suggestions and thoughts in people's mind. It made her very useful when it came to dealing with and deceiving civilians for their own good. "See, still ready to fight," Kyoko said cheekily despite the fact that her limbs were still shaking. Her transformation undid itself, bringing her back in her plain hoodie and shorts. Mami

"You shouldn't be so reckless with your powers," Mami told her as she considered her outfit. She would have to take her clothes shopping sometime, her Junior really needed to diversify her wardrobe. "You know the toll it takes on your body to transform."

Unlike other Magical Girls, Kyoko could only keep her transformation up for short bursts of time due to the system of Magecraft already present in her body. In Archer's words, it was like trying to pour boiling water into a glass that had already been nearly filled. It would overflow and start rampaging in her body until she was able to increase the size of the vessel.

"Got to use everything I have to keep up," Kyoko waved her off. "Besides it's not as bad this time, I think I'm getting used to it."

"Last time you threw up and lost control of your limbs, forcing me to carry you home." It didn't help that Kyoko had been a nervous mess the entire time. Yes, the princess carry was neccesary because she couldn't even use her arms to hold on!

"Exactly, testing out my limits. Now go be a hero and take out that witch," Kyoko waved her away like she wasn't going to collapse at any moment.

Normally Mami would be harsher at her for exerting herself this much, but she could hardly bring herself to do so. She had nearly all her magical energy and the witch was now in front of her, there wasn't a need to consider sacrificing the few for the many with Kyoko around.

"I better show my appreciation for my Junior's efforts then," Mami replied as she pushed the door open and stepped inside with her rifles ready.

She was still the stronger of the two of them, though Kyoko was quickly catching up. Mami would have to double down on her training if she were to continue being the reliable Senior. For now, though she would have to be satisfied with putting on an impressive performance for her to watch.

* * *

For Kyoko there was always awe inspiring about Mami as she fought. The way she danced gracefully around the witch, the deafening barrage of her rifles, and the mesmerizing twirls of her ribbons as they wrapped themselves around the battlefield, it all led to an absolute feast of the senses. Nearly overwhelming if not for her previous experience watching Archer.

Watching him fight was a whole other can of worms that she'd rather not get into though.

Using the ribbons as platforms, Mami quickly hopped to the top of the arena and pulled out her signature move once she reached the peak of her jump. A giant gun, larger than it had ever been before, appeared in the Magical Girl's hand as she pointed it at the witch and primed her shot.

"Tiro Finale!"

The gun fired with the force and sound of a missile, sending a giant ball of pure energy straight at the witch. The resulting explosion was as beautifully impressive as always, even more so as Mami gracefully landed on her feet and used the blast as a backdrop for drinking cup of tea.

How she always had a cup of tea on hand, Kyoko never did find out. It was just pure style though, and Mami only seemed to get even stronger as time passed. Kyoko had no idea how she would ever catch up at this rate, but damn it if that would stop her from trying.

Eventually the mushroom clouded went away and a grief seed fell to the floor. The labyrinth collapsed and the two Magical Girls found themselves on a high-rise building overlooking much of Mitikihara.

"Well that's convenient," Kyoko commented as she let herself fall and lay down close to the edge of the building. She turned her head and enjoyed the sight. Mitihikara was a larger city than Kazamino was and that only made the skyline that much more impressive to look at. "Kill a witch and enjoy a nice view of the city you helped to protect." The only that was missing was the stars in the night sky, but eh you couldn't get everything.

"It certainly is a good reminder of what we're fighting for," Mami replied before gesturing toward the six unconscious people that were on the roof with them. "What about them?"

"None of them are badly injured and I already popped a Suggestion in their heads, Mams. They'll head downstairs when they wake up and won't remember a single thing." That thankfully didn't take too much of a toll on her body. Just a bit of magic from her Soul Gem.

"Then I guess I'll join you then." Mami joined her in viewing the skyline.

The two of them stared at the horizon for some time, in a rare moment of silence. Even Kyoko, as active as she was, could enjoy. Though that might've been because she was still trying to recover from how sore her body was.

Once the pain had lightened up a little, Kyoko sat up and faced Mami. "You know a couple months ago I have just some girl scavenging through her father's basement for something interesting to look at it." Kyoko raised an arm in triumph. "Now I'm a kickass Magical Girl with cool Magecraft powers on top of that."

"I couldn't have imagined this sort of life for myself when I first started as a Magical girl," Mami admitted.

"We've grown a lot." Mami in more ways than others. The difference between their bodies had only become more… pronounced in the last year much to Kyoko's chagrin. Still didn't change the fact that Mami was enticing to look at, but it didn't help her own confidence when it turned out that they were the same age. It was a surprise to learn that they were both thirteen and not very pleasant to know once Archer started making the occasional offhand comment about it.

God help her she'd hit that growth spurt soon. If only to spite him!

Not that he said much nowadays. The man had become angry, broody, and quiet ever since she had made a contract. She was almost looking forward to whatever sarcastic quips he would make, if only to get some sort of reaction from him.

"Sakura." Mami was a real stickler for Japanese formality. Kyoko hadn't heard her call anyone by their first name, apart from Archer and that was because there was no other name to call him by.

"Yes Mami?" Kyoko asked.

"You know… you never told me what you wished for." Mami said.

"Ah sorry must've left my head. Why didn't you ask sooner?"

"I was about to ask the first time you showed me your transformation, but then you had a seizure."

"Oh yea," Kyoko scratched the back of her head. Errors had been made that day. Apparently there was only so much Prana, Od, and Soul Gem magic a Magical Circuit could hold and convert into Magical Energy at a given moment. The whole process had been a very painful revelation. On another note the excess magic that flooded her system ended up activating five more of her dormant circuits that day, so at least being sore for an entire week wasn't for nothing. "Well… I wished that people would come to my dad's church. Give him a chance and actually listen to him you know?"

"Really?"

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, it's an… interesting wish, to have made it for your father's sake. Wasn't there something that you wanted personally?"

"I do," Kyoko admitted. "I wanted to help people, but my family came first. Now I'm going to keep trying to help people with the power I've gained. It's the least I can do for myself… and him"

"Archer, you mean?"

Kyoko crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. "He used to be quite the hopeless dreamer. A total idiot, but… admirable trying to chase after an impossible dream. I don't know what caused him to end up like this, but he hasn't exactly been supportive of my decision to become a Magical Girl."

"He cares though. He wouldn't stay if he didn't."

Kyoko stayed silent. She was the Master and he was the Servant. In the end it really wasn't like he had a choice, did he? He would continue serving so long as he existed in this world. What other options did he have apart from vanishing from this world.

She stood up and began balancing herself on the edge. "What do you want do to Mami?"

"What do I want?" Mami asked, confused.

"Yea. What do you want? I get you like helping people and all that, but is there something that you want to do for yourself? Something you can aim for in the future?"

"To be honest, I haven't thought much about that," Mami replied as she stared in the distance. "I made my wish to tie myself to life, but I've been so busy fighting witches. Learning to fight, saving people, surviving. I wanted to live, but I guess I never consider what I really wanted with the opportunity I received."

"Well I'm here now. I've got your back. It's the least I can do with how much you've helped me."

Mami turned back and smiled at her. "You do. Don't you?"

"I'll deal with my part if you do ever get into trouble, so don't worry about the witches. Go find a hobby, open a café or something once you're out of school. You're an excellent cook."

"Not as good as Archer though," Mami grumbled, annoyed.

"To be fair no one's as good as Archer when it comes to cooking," Kyoko replied. Despite everything he still made her a bento box for lunch every day and it was always absolutely delicious. Though where he got access to a kitchen was a question that she had never gotten an answer to. It couldn't be at her house; her Mother was there too often for him to have a chance to use the kitchen.

"It doesn't help that that man has to be so… insufferable about it. Why does he need to show me up like that?"

"How exactly is he showing you up? I mean, he doesn't do anything as long as you leave him alone when he's the kitchen." It was just something you learned quickly with Archer. If he was cooking, then you did not bother him. Less you face the wrath of his spatula and frilly pink apron.

"It was mine in the first place!" Mami shouted. "You know how scared I was when I came home from school and found that he had broken into my apartment!? Just to cook! And he keeps doing it! I swear he just does it to infuriate me!"

Kyoko sheepishly scratched the back of her head. Well that answered that question. "Yea, sorry. My family doesn't know about him and my mom's usually home. Didn't know it was your kitchen he was using. Glad you didn't call the cops on him."

Mami sighed in exasperation. "I'm used to unexpected… guests with Kyubey, though it's much more disturbing when a grown man does it."

"I mean isn't Kyubey a boy?" Kyoko asked.

"Isn't she a girl?" Mami asked

_I am genderless._ Kyubey replied.

"Well that answers that question," Kyoko quipped as she turned toward Kyubey, hardly surprised by his sudden appearance. He just does that. Even Archer would get caught off guard by him sometimes. "What do you need?"

_We have been recording your progress as both a modern Magus and Magical Girl. What we've compiled so far has been quite fascinating._

"I'm being studied," Kyoko replied plainly. She knew that already but wording it like kinda made it creepy.

_Yes, are there any issues with that?_

"What exactly have you been studying?" She never did get the details

_Your family, your daily life, your interactions with others, and your body._

"My body?"

_We've been closely observing how your Magical Circuits interact with your Soul Gem and taken note of any physical changes you've gone through with your current mindset._

"Wait physical changes? What do you mean by that?"

Kyubey tilted its head. _By allowing your body to grow at its previous natural course, you've grown an impressive three centimeters in height in the last four months. However, your breasts have had much more modest growth in contrast, which is peculiar considering your extensive and nutritious diet._

Kyoko jumped away from the creature and quickly covered her chest with her arms. "Are you-, have you been watching me in the shower!?"

_We were informed by Mami that we should respect your privacy in your home._

"Then, how did you?"

_We observed from the locker room as you were changing your garments._

"Kyu- Kyubey," Mami, who looked just as crimson as Kyoko did, stammered. "That isn't quite what I meant when I told you to respect her privacy."

"Yea! You pervert!" Kyoko shouted.

_I can assure you that I am incapable of being a pervert. We do not have the same physical or chemical responses that your species has when expressing mating intent._

"I apologize for Kyubey's sake," Mami said as she covered her face with her hands. "He doesn't intend it that way."

"Doesn't make it any less weird," Kyoko argued. "And stop do whatever it is you've been doing with me."

_It'll be much more difficult for us to acquire information if we aren't allowed to observe. Will you be willing submit yourself for an examination once a month?_

"No!... I don't know. We'll just… figure it out. Later alright?" Kyoko turned to Mami. "Doesn't Kyubey spend a lot of time at your apartment? Shouldn't you be worried about this?"

"I'm quite used to Kyubey's… eccentricities at this point. He doesn't mean any harm and it wasn't really an issue until now," Mami turned toward Kyubey. "It would be best if you avoided observing Kyoko for the time being. We'll figure something out later. Also, in the future please don't speak so freely when it comes to a woman's… assets."

_We will consider your terms._

That wasn't a yes, but Kyoko had a feeling that it was the best she was going to get from the thing.

* * *

_I'm back Archer,_ Kyoko mentally called out as she snuck through the window of her bedroom. She was met with silence. As usual. Sometimes she had to be a bit persistent to get an answer. _Archer? Archeroni? Sarcastic dude in red?_

_I'm well aware Master,_ he finally replied.

_Finally! Anything, interesting happen while I was away?_

_Nothing._

_Really?_

_Yes. I killed a witch. That was it._

_You didn't think to tell me you were going to go hunting too?_

Kyoko could practically see him shrug at her through his Astral form as she changed into her pajamas.

_I perceived a threat and I dealt with it,_ he replied.

_How did you even find one without a Soul Gem?_

_It's not hard now that I know to look for them._

Meaning he was probably scouring the city block from block, hoping to run straight into a labyrinth. Even for a Servant that had to be a time-consuming task.

_Well our hunt went pretty well._ Kyoko commented. _Saved a bunch of people brought back a grief seed too._

_You'd be dead if it didn't._

_Jeez, thanks for the show of confidence._

_I'm merely speaking the truth._

_Well there are other ways of putting it!_

_Would you prefer I sugar coat all of my words?_

_Ok what's wrong with you!? You've been like this ever since I became a Magical Girl!_

_You know the answer to that question._

Kyoko couldn't help but groan in exasperation as she forcefully severed their mental connection. She hated just standing by and letting him act like this but confronting him about it never led anywhere.

"Why is he being such an ass?" she grumbled to herself. "You'd think the Throne would've given me a Heroic Spirit that didn't make me want to tear my hair out."

"Heroic Spirit?"

Kyoko turned toward her sister who sitting up on her bed. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping Momo?"

Momo tilted her head. "Aren't you supposed to be home at night?"

Tch. Cheeky brat. "I was helping a friend with something."

"And you couldn't let Papa or Mama know?"

"I don't think they'd let me help if they did," Kyoko admitted.

Momo began twiddling with her fingers. "Is this about that strange man you've been meeting up with?"

"Strange man?"

"The one in red and black."

Kyoko's breath hitch, her words stuck her in her throat.

"Is he the one teaching you to do those magic tricks you showed me?" Momo asked.

"You were watching me?" Kyoko asked, disturbed. There were a few times when she and Archer had been walking on the streets together where they could be seen if her sister had been following them.

"I wanted to know where you were going." Momo didn't look guilty at all saying that, as if it was perfectly natural to follow her sibling around.

_Archer!_ Kyoko quickly reestablished their mental connection. _Did you know that Momo was following us?_

_For a month now._

_Why didn't you say anything!?_

_You demanded that I hide us while training, not on the streets. She wasn't a threat, so I didn't have to say anything._

_Archer I swear to god you can't ju-_

_Shouldn't you be more worried about your sister right now?_

"Who do you keep talking to?" Momo asked

_Damn it!_ Kyoko focused on her sister. "What do you mean by that? There's no one else here."

"You've been like this for months now. You keep making strange faces like you're talking to someone that's not here. Is it that man? Are you talking to him with magic?"

Jesus Christ, how observant was she? "Momo you can't just follow me around like that," Kyoko chastised her. "It's wrong, you sh-"

"Why am I wrong? You're the one running off every night."

"You shouldn't get involved."

"Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't understand."

"Why not!?"

"Because you're too young"

"THEN WHY ARE YOU TREATING ME LIKE I'M STUPID!"

Kyoko reeled back at her sister's sudden fury. It just didn't make sense. Momo didn't get angry like that, she was the younger gentler, if sometimes a bit bratty, sister. And yet now she was roaring with a rage to match Kyoko's own.

_She's been holding this in for a long time now Master,_ Archer commented. _Your parents aren't home by the way._

Well, their parents weren't home to hear this at least. Still didn't make it any easier getting screamed at by her own little sister.

"What was I supposed to do!?" Momo continued shouting. "You're always going off by yourself, telling me to keep your secrets when you don't even tell me anything! You keep asking me to help, but you don't even trust me!"

"Momo," Kyoko kneeled down and tried put a hand on her sister's shoulder only for it to be angrily pushed away. "It's not that I don't trust you. I'm just worried."

"Worried that I'll make a mistake!? Because I'm so stupid apparently!"

"I'm worried that you'll get hurt."

Momo blinked. She was still tense, but she didn't seem as outraged as she was before.

"I'm doing something dangerous right now," Kyoko told her.

"How dangerous?" Momo asked.

"Very… but if I don't do anything a lot of other people could get hurt... I need to do this"

Momo looked down at her knees and stayed silent for some time. "D-do you really need to help them?" she eventually asked.

"Momo?"

"You're helping other people but what about us? Papa and Mama have been so busy with all the people suddenly coming to church. Don't they need help too?"

"I-"

"What about me?" Momo asked with tears in her eyes. "They're busy and you're always out there. I'm… lonely."

Kyoko immediately grabbed her sister and threw her arms around her. She held her closely, afraid that she was going to lose her at any moment. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about how you felt."

"Y-you weren't," Momo choked as she ineffectually punched her. "You ne-never think about how I fe-feel."

Kyoko only tightened her embrace as Momo continued to berate her. She deserved it after all. For hurting her family as much as she did. In her efforts to be a hero she had failed to see how much she had been neglecting them. She had thought that her wish would've solved everything for them, or at least made it so that she could pursue her own dream in peace. It was one thing to sacrifice herself in the pursuit of helping others, it was another when her family began suffering due to her actions.

Eventually Momo returned the hug and all that could be heard in room was her sobbing against Kyoko's chest. The two of them stayed like that for some time.

"Do you want to do something tomorrow?" Kyoko asked as she finally let her sister go.

"But what about school?"

"We can skip a day. Let's do what you want alright? Anything you want."

It was about time she took Momo somewhere nice now that they had the money. Her father's church had received a lot in donations since she had made her wish.

"Won't people notice we're gone?" Momo asked.

"Don't worry I have a few… tricks I can use on them. We won't get into any trouble." It was simple enough. Just needed to use a Suggestion or two on their teachers and whoever asked questions as to why two kids were out playing in the city during a school day.

"I… always wanted to go to the amusement park," Momo said.

"Then we'll go there. Just the two of us."

"Really?" Momo looked up at her hopefully.

"Really. Now go to bed. We got an early day tomorrow." Kyoko turned to get to her own bed.

"Big sis?"

"Yes Momo?"

"Do you think we could sleep together again? It's been a long time."

Kyoko replied by turning around and making her way to Momo's bed. It was a bit of a tight fit and she had to hold her sister closely for there to be enough room, but she didn't mind. Neither of them did. Despite everything, ite was a natural thing for the two of them.

"Good night Momo."

Momo snuggled herself closely to her.

"Good night Kyoko."


	5. Chapter 5

"Kyoko! Kyoko! Let's go on the spinning teacups!"

"Alright Momo, slow down," Kyoko said with a smile on her face as she casually ran after her sister. A bit ironic coming from her, but they had all day to have fun. Especially when a bit of magic was all it took to get them to the front of the line. Probably not the most morally responsible thing to use her magic for, but the bright smile on Momo's face was worth it. Just so long as Mami didn't hear about it. She always did have a lecture or two about misusing magic on the civilians

 _You sure you don't want to come and join us?_ Kyoko asked her servant. Momo's mood was incredibly infectious, to the point that she considered inviting him despite his recent attitude.

 _No. I'll keep hunting you have your fun,_ Archer replied before heading elsewhere.

Well, more grief seeds for her then.

They deftly cut the line thanks to Kyoko's magic and took their seat on the red teacup that Momo picked out. Momo always liked red, though she rarely wore it herself, instead going for mostly green with her clothes. Something about red not suiting her, even though Kyoko constantly assured her that it did.

Once the ride started, Momo wasted no time in grabbing the wheel in the center and pushing on it with all her might. The resulting spin was quite exhilarating, and Kyoko began adding her own Reinforced pushes once Momo had tired out.

She might've ended up overdoing judging by how her sister was wobbling on her legs after the ride had ended, but at least she had fun. Even if she did end up wobbling over to the nearest trash can, leaning her over the top, and- Oh boy that wasn't good.

Kyoko quickly Projected a napkin so Momo could use it to wipe her mouth when she was done. Gradation Air was the proper term for that magic and it wasn't something that she really used, mostly because she wasn't nearly as efficient or capable at it as Archer was with his Tracing. She had recently given up practicing that field of magic altogether and instead focused on her Reinforcement, Flame Magecraft, Mental Interference, and Illusions.

"Why don't we take a break and get you some ginger ale?" Kyoko suggested as she gently rubbed Momo's back.

Her sister nodded and they took a break at the closest bench after getting their drinks. After some time, the color returned to Momo's cheeks and she looked ready to start playing around again.

"Hey, big sis."

"Yes Momo?"

"Could you tell me about that man, the one I saw with you?"

"Ah," Kyoko gripped her bottle of milk tea tightly. "He's a uh… skilled Magus that's been teaching me Magic."

"What's his name?"

"Archer."

"Archer? Nothing else?"

"It's just Archer."

"Can he… also use a bow?"

"He can. Very well. He's also a very dangerous swordsman."

"So, he's a mage, bowman, and swordsman? That's so cool."

Kyoko huffed. "Well I can use spears and fire."

"Cool! Can you show me?"

"Uh…" Kyoko glanced at the crowd of people around them that were more or less ignoring them. Shooting flames out of her hand though would probably be a lot harder to ignore and wipe from people's memories. "Some other time."

"Okay." Momo began kicking her legs. "Could I learn magic?"

"I guess," Kyoko replied without much thought. "I'll see what I can do, you just have to make sure to keep it a secret from everyone else." She took a sip of her milk tea. "Why do you want to learn?"

"Because I want to fight with you." Kyoko spat out her drink. She coughed and began wiping her mouth with the back of the hand before Momo handed her the same napkin that she had Projected for her. "You said you were fighting something dangerous right? Maybe I could help."

Kyoko quickly wiped her mouth clean and erased the object from the world. "No."

"Why not?"

"You're still a kid."

"So are you!"

"I'm a teenager. Big difference."

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes it is. I at least had my time of the month already."

"Mom keeps mentioning it, but I still don't know what that is."

"You'll find out in a couple of years." And it would be a jarring, messy, and overall unpleasant experience that will likely ending up scarring her for a lifetime. Kyoko shuddered as she remembered her first time. Blood, so much blood, and it had to happen right in front of Archer while they were sparring. The fact that he realized it before she had and immediately Projected the neccesary hygiene supplies didn't help. The man had a nose of a Goddamn bloodhound. "Until then, you're still a brat. And brats should be safe at home."

Momo pouted. "Can't I watch please?"

"You can come for training but not during the hunts. And I'll talk with Archer about what we can teach you. Alright?"

"Fine." Momo agreed before looking at a nearby rollercoaster. "Let's go on that one next!"

"You sure you can handle it?" Kyoko looked at her doubtfully. "Made a bit of mess in that trashcan back there."

Momo pouted. "That's because you were spinning the teacup too hard."

"You wanted me to!"

"You're the older one. Maybe you shouldn't have agreed."

Tch. Her sister really was such a cheeky little brat.

Thankfully it turned out that getting sick did little to dissuade Momo for the rest of the day they were at the park. In fact, throwing up had seemed to give her a second wind and they had absolutely gorged themselves on carnival food once they were done with the rides. The food was a bit pricy on top of the costs of the tickets, but they had some spending money now that people were attending their father's sermons.

"That was so much fun sis!" Momo said cheerfully as she skipped cheerfully despite the long day they had. Likely the sugar rush from all that funnel cake, she'd end up crashing soon enough.

"Of course. You were with me all day," Kyoko replied confidently.

"We should do this again! With Mama and Papa!"

"Sure."

It'd be a bit difficult matching her schedule with theirs, but what sort of Hero would she be if she couldn't make some time for her family?

Kyoko ran forward and grabbed Momo, who let a cheerful squeal, before setting her on her shoulders. She then began effortlessly running with her back home using some Reinforcement to enhance her limbs.

The beauty of the setting sun, the cheerful laugh of her sister atop her shoulders. It had been a long time since she and her sister had fun like this, to have a moment where they could let it all out and enjoy themselves. This had proved to be a near perfect day.

Which was why it was jarring when Momo suddenly stopped laughing and remained silent as she stared at a certain direction. Kyoko looked up at her sister, wondering what was wrong, when she felt an overbearing presence a few seconds later.

"Kyoko… what is that?" Momo asked nervously.

Kyoko immediately set her sister down and looked at carefully. "You can feel that?"

Momo nodded.

Kyoko's breath hitched. Her sister wasn't a Magus or a Magical Girl, yet she had somehow felt that Witch's presence before she had. That meant she was incredibly sensitive to magic, and Witches were attracted to people like that.

"Momo," Kyoko kneeled down and firmly looked her sister in the eye. "You need to go home. Right now."

"What are you going to do?"

"This is the dangerous thing I was talking about. I'm going to deal with it and meet you back at the house for dinner."

"Let me help!"

"No," Kyoko firmly grabbed her shoulders. "This thing could hurt you really badly if you get involved. If you want to help, then tell Mom and Dad that I was studying with my friends and lost track of the time. I don't want them to worry, alright."

Momo looked at her desperately but didn't refuse her request. "Make sure you come back."

"I will. I'll see you at dinner tonight," Kyoko told her before running off in the direction where she felt the presence.

Archer was too far to contact mentally and Mami was still off in Mitikihara, that meant that she'd have to deal with this herself. She could always use a Command Seal to call on Archer from wherever he currently was, but hopefully that wouldn't be neccesary.

Despite her reinforced legs though, she couldn't feel herself getting closer to it no matter how much she ran. She tried picking up speed, but the Witch still wasn't getting any closer, as if it was matching her speed with its own. She was forced to make a slight detour to get to a bridge to cross a river, but the Witch didn't get farther either despite the extra time she took to get around.

It was when Kyoko finally stopped on her feet that she realized that something was up. It just didn't make sense. Even if the Witch could detect her from this far away, why would it put in the effort to maintain the same distance between them? With that speed it could've easily run away or ambushed her by now, but instead it just decided to stop moving at the same time she did.

Was it playing with her? Or was something tricky about it that she wasn't considering?

She took out her Soul Gem and looked at it. It was lighting up, but even that light didn't change in intensity no matter how much she walked. There was no mistake that she was detecting a Witch's magic, but it was as if it wasn't actually th-

Kyoko immediately pivoted on her feet and ran the back the way she had came.

A decoy, somehow the Witch had left enough of its magic behind to act as a decoy, misleading any Magical Girls that would've tried to follow it. There was no telling where it would be right now, but if Witches were attracted to strong Magical presences…

She doubled down on her Reinforcement as she ran for the path that Momo would've taken to get home.

Please god, let her sister be safe.

* * *

Archer had to admit, Momo was a cute kid. A bit of a cheeky brat sometimes, but otherwise a good kid. She deserved to spend some with her older sister and not have a Servant ruin their fun.

Besides, he spent most of his time nowadays on his own. He was still a Servant despite everything and would be there when needed, but that didn't mean he wanted to be there to see what his Master and that yellow haired Magical Girl were doing.

That was how he found himself inside the city of Kamihana. The stench of something strange permeated the entire city, so strong that he could detect it even standing on top of the highest building he could find. He was no bloodhound, despite what his Master claimed, but rather his nose was capable of detecting disturbances in the Order of the World. Apparently Witches and Magical Girls could apparently be categorized as such things, allowing him to sniff them out according to his Master. True enough, even if that wasn't technically how that worked.

Either way, it was a clear sign of the large population of Magical Girls and Witches that operated in this city, much larger and more active than Kazamino. Could be dangerous if he got caught up in that without preparation, but thankfully it was simple enough to hide his presence from any girls that happened to glance at where he stood.

He had already located a pair, one girl with long blue hair and another with short silver hair. They stood close to each other, close friends most likely, and were laughing about something inconsequential as they entered a candy store together.

Two more girls that had chosen to fight in an endless war. He'd have call them fools, but considering his own situation and the fact that the Holy Grail War had existed because of the lengths people would go for a single wish… Well at this point he could hardly blame them, especially since most of them were just children. Even his master had some leniency on his part despite the means he took to avoid her.

That was mostly due to her dream to be a hero, even if it wasn't the same dream that he had once followed.

In general, he didn't like heroes that much. His qualms weren't with the ideology of heroism, but rather the many would be heroes who failed to keep to these ideals they supposedly followed and failed to see the hypocrisy in their beliefs. It also didn't help that many of them were just too focused on inconsequential things like honor, wealth, or fame and often failed to do what was needed to be done because of it. There was only one hero that he was particularly fond of, but he had long since failed to save her heart.

It was as he was reminiscing over what memories he could recall of his hero, that he noticed a girl with shoulder length gray hair on another roof. He watched as the girl set down her belongings, a book, a carton of milk, and an unopened packet of bread, before leaning against the railing. It would be easy assume she had come to the rooftop to have lunch; except she wasn't anywhere near a school despite wearing a uniform. There was a vacant look on the one eye he could see that wasn't covered by her hair, a look that was eerily reminiscent to him.

That was why he had already tensed his legs by the time she started climbing over the railing. He jumped into action and dived toward even before she threw herself off the rooftop. As she fell though, the vacant expression left her face only to be replaced by fear. She had regretted her decision. Many people that chose to commit suicide were said regret their decision, though unfortunately it was often too late by the time they realized their mistake.

This time though he was able to leap from a rooftop, bounce off another wall, and grab her in his arms at the halfway point between the girl and the ground. They flew in the air for a brief moment before gravity finished its work and sent them downwards. He landed harshly, his feet causing cracks into the pavement below him, but otherwise he had been unharmed. As was the girl, who was currently too shocked for words and was staring at him shock.

"You chose a good time to drop in."

Ah… sarcasm probably wasn't the best thing for a girl that had just attempted suicide. It was just his default response for most situations.

Archer then noticed something peculiar about the girl. It was hard to notice from a distance, but now that he held her up close, he could see that she had potential. Potential for both his Contract and the Incubator's.

A coincidence? Or maybe it was Fate and his E rank luck screwing with him again.

He lowered his arms slowly and let the girl stand at her own pace. Eventually they stood facing one another, him looking down with his grey eyes and her looking up with her vibrant blue.

Normally he would just walk away after saving a stranger. He didn't need the recognition or the praise for doing what he needed to do, and he wasn't in this world to make friends. However, this girl was in a fragile state. Walking away in silence and leaving her alone now would likely make her more depressed and confused.

Her mouth opened slightly but no sound came out. She looked down sullenly and crossed her arms. Shy, quiet, someone whose words didn't come easily. She had thoughts, something that she wanted to express, but couldn't due to her trouble speaking.

"It's fine you don't have to say anything," Archer said.

The girl closed her eyes as tears began to form and gripped her arms tighter.

Ah… that was the wrong thing to say. There was something that this girl wanted to tell him, she simply couldn't.

"Are you mute?" he asked.

She shook her head again. It was still an issue if she had this much trouble with words. Best to use another way to communicate.

He projected a simple leather-bound black notebook and a pen in his hands. He handed both to the girl. "You can write it down instead," he suggested.

The girl slowly reached out for the objects, carefully grabbed them, and then held them against her chest. After a few seconds she would open up the notebook and begin writing.

_**Thank you** _

Her penmanship was immaculate.

"Don't mention it," he said plainly. She was… familiar to him for some reason.

The girl looked him from the bottom up and then quickly looked away before writing again.

_**How did you save me? I was so high up.** _

"I jumped."

She raised her eyes and looked at him once more.

_**Are you some sort of superhero?** _

"No. A mage."

The girl's eyes widened even more.

_**Magic?** _

"Yes"

_**I didn't think it existed.** _

"It does, in several forms. If a strange white cat starts talking to you don't listen to it," he decided to warn her.

_**White cat?** _

"You'll see."

The girl brought her pen to the notebook once more, only to hesitate. Her pen shook as she slowly began to write, though Archer could already tell what she was asking before she finished with the first word.

_**Why?** _

"Because you wanted someone to save you."

If she still had that vacant expression when she fell, if she hadn't regretted her decision, then he would've let her hit the ground… No, even then he would've gone to help. That was the part of himself that would never change, that compulsion to help people in trouble if they were in front of him. Even if his help wouldn't be good for them in the first place. Even as he was forced to kill millions of innocents all under the duty and control of Alaya.

In the end his desire to help people didn't make him right. There were some fates where death was the easier, better option.

Tears began to flood the girl's eyes. In the end though she had wanted to be saved.

_**I didn't want to die.** _

She barely finished writing before the tears began streaming down her face. She held the notebook tightly against her body as she wept.

He laid his hand on her head and rubbed it gently as she cried. After what she had been through, she was going to need this. Thankfully a quick spell or two was all it took to get stop any potential prying eyes.

It was only after some time passed, did she finally compose herself and start writing in the notebook again.

_**I just couldn't handle it anymore… This world-** _

"Is harsh. And people are horrible, terrible, and cruel creatures." Archer replied. Before and after he had been abandoned by his dream, he had seen humanity at its worst countless times. No matter how many he saved, how many he killed, there would always be more suffering and evil to come.

_**Because I can't speak… everyday they kept hurting me. Making fun of me, throwing away my things.** _

Bullying. It might seem rather inconsequential compared to his issues, but he had seen what constant abuse could do to a kind and gentle soul. Some found the strength to carry on despite that. Others… well he couldn't blame them for wanting to take the easy way out.

But what could he do? He might've stopped her from committing suicide, but that didn't solve the issues she had. She still had trouble speaking, she would be a victim on a daily basis, and it was likely that she would eventually head back to that roof once again. He hadn't saved her.

It was never easy to save someone, especially when he already had his own Master to worry about. There was little he could do bar tracking down all of her bullies or carpet bombing her school for letting it get to this point.

Not that he would carpet bomb anything that wasn't a Servant or his past alternate self, though there was that one strange timeline where Rin had been especially keen on him doing that to an entire city. Definitely one of the stranger timelines, especially when everyone kept mistaking him for Satan.

Well, Actually Satan. The Actually part was important for some reason.

"You still have hope… its why you didn't want to die. You either have a reason to live… or still want to find it," Archer said focusing on the girl in front of him.

_**I don't think I have one. I don't know how to find it.** _

"I find that the solitude of a rooftop helps me think. To consider things. If you do ever find you reason, hold onto it. There is… some beauty in this world, something that you can live for out there. If you can't find it or even that runs dry… at least try to make it painless."

It was the advice he could give as someone who had lived entirely on an ideal, only to lose everything and still continuing to exist anyway. If she ever grew certain that she wanted to leave this world… well then, he'd stay make sure to stay away if he happened to be in the area.

_**I'll try.** _

The girl handed him back the notebook and pen.

Rather than have them disappear though, Archer began working his Magecraft onto it. "Trace on."

Normally projections would disappear once Gaia's influence eroded the magic that created it, unless provided with an indefinite supply of energy. His personal Tracing on the other hand, with a bit more effort, could create stable ordinary objects that indefinitely remained. So long as they weren't destroyed or damaged, then they wouldn't disappear.

"Here," he said as he handed it back to her. A gift… that was all he could give her before he had to go back to his Master. "Since it'll help you communicate."

She looked grateful if a bit surprised by his gesture as she took the notebook and pen.

_**Thank you. Could I get your name?** _

"Archer"

"R… Ren… Isuzu…," the girl was able to let out after some effort. "I hope… you find… what you're looking for. A reason… to live."

Ren bowed before walking away as Archer watched her in silence. She was more observant than he had expected. Or perhaps she just knew. It didn't matter though, whether he found a reason to live in this world or not that. One that wasn't simply because it was better than the alternative of continuing his works as a Counter Guardian.

He was a Heroic Spirit, a copy summoned to this world by the Throne. The actual Archer who had been recorded, the real Archer, would never be saved. So, was there any point for him to stay? Would it even be worth it to live for that hope, only for it to eventually abandon him in the end anyway?

Unfortunately more pressing issues to worry about before he could consider this.

"What are you doing here Incubator?" He turned to the creature in question that stood on top of a trash can, shaking its tail like it always did. Where a person with potential was, the Incubator was likely to follow.

_I was simply ready to grant a wish. She would've likely wished to be saved, had you not interfered._

"Good. Now go off and find another mark," Archer replied as he walked away. He had long since given up on trying to kill its bodies, at least when it wasn't in his own territory at Kazamino. Too much work for the both of them. Best to just avoid each other when they could.

_I will, though I predict that another opportunity to contract with the girl will come soon enough._

Once he was out of sight from the Incubator, Archer returned to his Astral form. He fully intended to explore the rest of the city, only to loop back around and keep an eye on Ren from a distance. She eventually arrived home where she would be greeted at the door by her parents. The genuine smile she gave them seemed to suggest that she was loved.

Of course, appearances could be deceiving, but there didn't seem to anything wrong with her home life on initial observation. Still, he knew how bad bullies could get in school and a shy quiet girl like her… it wasn't hard to see why she would commit suicide. It brought back some unpleasant memories of an old classmate of his. They had that same empty look on their face at times.

Perhaps that was why he was putting in more effort than he normally would for someone he had just met. Regret over a past that he wished to change. Regret for the countless timelines that showed what he could've, what he should've done.

_Archer! I command you to be by my side!_

It seemed that duty called once again.

He quickly disappeared and left little trace of himself, apart from a leather clad black notebook and a pebble he just happened to shift into the middle of the path he was standing. A pebble that could easily trip a random bystander that happened to step on it.

* * *

The first thing that Archer noticed on his arrival was the stench of fresh blood and flame behind him. It was then overpowered by the stench of rotting, burning word in front of him. His eyesight then cleared, and he noticed the giant spiked arm being reared back and swung his way.

"I am the Bone of my Sword."

He didn't move an inch as the arm collided with the giant stone axe-sword that he held in his hand. It was taller than him by a foot and twice as wide, but it suited its purpose for this moment. The unnamed weapon of the Hero Heracles and what allowed Archer to use his variation of the Greek hero's Nine Lives Technique. Rather than use that though, Archer grabbed the weapon with both his arms like one would a bat. There really wasn't much swordsmanship or technique to be applied to a weapon like this, just raw brute strength. He swung hard, striking the bottom of the Witch and cleaving through its waist as he sent it hurtling a significant distance away.

With the Witch now pushed back, Archer spared a glance to where his Master stood protectively in front of her sister

Several long gashes across her red dress and a few spikes embedded in her stomach and calf. Bad wounds, but nothing fatal and perfectly within the realm for a Magical Girl to heal. The real issue was Momo was obviously very distraught at seeing her sister wounded that badly. Thankfully there wasn't too much blood, his Master had the sense to cauterize her wounds.

"Archer! Protect Momo! I'll finish it off!"

In addition to his Master's injury it was clear that she was already at the limit her body could handle. Her transformation had already begun to fade leaving her in her casual clothes.

The Witch was picking itself up slowly, a result of its missing arm and its leg that had been torn apart when he had struck it.

Ignoring his Master's order, Archer Projected his black bow in one hand.

It was possible his Master could defeat the injured Witch if she continued to push her Magecraft past her limits, but not without causing great damage to her body in the process. They still didn't know how sturdy a Magical Girl's body was, but he was not going to risk it.

In his other hand appeared a modified version of the Spiral Rainbow Sword wielded by Fergus. Caladbolg II, The Fake Spiral Sword. A twisted and distorted version of its original, hardly suitable to be used as a sword.

He nocked his Projection against his bow. The space around began to distort as he pulled back the string of his bow.

Which was why he used it as an arrow.

"Caladbolg."

The arrow activated, he released his shot, and it flew the Witch in a spiraling blue light. It landed against the Witch's chest, creating an explosion that ravaged its body and engulfing it in flame.

"The threat has been dealt with Master," Archer replied plainly as he turned to his Master who looked mad but not truly infuriated by what he had done. Just annoyed that he disobeyed orders and stepped on her pride for dispatching that Witch in her stead.

Even if she was angrier then he had expected, her little sister next to her would be enough to stop her from having an outburst. As it was his Master was already calming down as Momo grabbed her arm.

"Are you okay sis?" Momo asked.

"The Witch got a lucky hit. I'll be fine," Kyoko reassured her.

"Lucky hit or not, a mistake will get you killed," Archer commented.

"The Witch was going for Momo! What else was I supposed to do differently!?" his Master shouted at him.

"Nothing."

She paused and stared at him.

"Your mistake was trying to finish the Witch yourself, instead of getting to safety with Momo and commanding me to deal with it. Otherwise, you were moving to protect someone close to you. Do the same next time, but learn to do it better."

That seemed to take away most of the wind off his Master's sail. "I thought you were against me being reckless."

"For yourself when you're trying to prove something. If it's for someone else though…" Well he'd be even more of a hypocrite then he already was if he called her out on that. "It's still preferable for you to call on me and deal with threats before that ever becomes necessary."

His master began scratching the back of her neck and sighed. Any anger or annoyance she felt seemed to have left her body. "I'll keep that in mind. Momo, say hi to Archer."

"Hi… Mr. Archer," Momo greeted hesitantly as she hid behind her sister.

Archer gave the little girl a polite wave as the labyrinth began collapsing around them. Unfortunately, a labyrinth's existence made it impossible to discern what was happening in the outside world until the Witch was defeated.

Which was why none of them were prepared to find his Master's father at the backdoor of his Church.

The priest stared wide-eyed first at Archer and his bow, then at his Master who still held a spear in one hand and Momo in the other.

*Clank*

The grief seed fell onto the ground. The only noise that was made as everyone continued to stare at each other in silence.

Well, this wasn't going to end well.


	6. Chapter 6

The first thing that Kyoko's father had done after he had regained his composure was drag all of them, Archer included, into his office. She knew for a fact that he rarely let anyone inside his office, even his own children, so it was a testament to how serious the situation had become.

"What are you?" Her father demanded as he stood next to his desk.

"A Magical Girl…" Kyoko told him

"Magical Girl," his eyes narrowed in disbelief. "This isn't a game Sakura."

Kyoko flinched. He only ever called them by their last names if he was truly enraged. "I'm a Magical Girl and a Magus."

"Magus?"

"Those who practice Magecraft."

"And what is Magecraft?"

"Its… magic that can only do what is scientifically possible," Kyoko replied as she created a ball of fire in the palm of her hands. She would've showed him her transformation, but she was still recovering from her previous exertion.

Her father looked at the flame in shock and fear. "The Devil's power?"

"No," Archer commented.

Kyoko's father turned to glare at Archer. "And you are?"

_Just tell him. Just tell him everything Archer._ Kyoko instructed.

"Her Servant," Archer replied.

"Servant?"

Kyoko removed her gloves and the magic cast on her hand to reveal the Command Seals underneath. Of the three pairs of red marks originally there, only two remained a vibrant red. A result of her using them to summon her Servant. She had thought it was worth it to save her sister, but she was reconsidering things due to her current circumstances.

"I am a Heroic Spirit summoned by my Master to serve her purposes," Archer explained.

"Summoning? Witchcraft?" Kyoko stepped back as her father turned back to her. "Did you make a pact with the Devil?"

_Not this again,_ Archer grumbled.

_What?_ Kyoko asked

_Nothing. Just… nostalgia_

"No," she immediately denied it. "I found a book in the church's basement and I ended up summoning him."

"Was it a thick book hidden in an alcove with strange symbols hidden on it?" the priest asked.

"Yes… how did you know?"

"I hid it there. It was a cursed thing that suddenly appeared in my Church one day. Any attempts to destroy it and the amulet failed. It was clearly yemptation from the devil meant to drag people to ruin!"

"I do not know of the circumstances that would've brought the book here and the catalyst used to summon me to your Church," Archer admitted. "But I can assure you that I am not the Devil and that he wasn't involved in this."

"What do you have to say about this then demon?"

"I am no demon. I am a Magi."

"A servant to a demon then. A Witch." The priest glared at Kyoko. "You turned her into one of your kind?"

"We are Magi. We do not draw our powers from hell, but from the Root."

"The Root?"

"The Akashic Records. The force that exists at the top of all theories in every dimension, as well as the source of all events and phenomena in the universe. It exists outside of time, and archives information of all possibilities and events, past, present, and future of the world. It is where all souls, including Heroic Spirits, originate from and where they return after death."

Kyoko being the only who had heard this lecture previously could only stand there awkwardly as her father and sister stared at her Servant in confused silence.

They both turned to her.

She nodded in agreement

"That's… blasphemy. Your lies will not work on me." The priest eventually replied though there was some hesitation in his voice.

"I am simply speaking of a different interpretation of Heaven, as the Root is occasionally known as." Archer continued despite the growing outrage on her father's face. "For many Magi their ultimate goal is to reach the root through their own effort."

"Heaven is a gift from God!" the priest shouted at the Servant. "To the sinners who had found the Lord and truly wished for salvation. It is not something to be earned because we are undeserving. It is only by his grace and mercy that we are saved!"

"I can't deny or confirm the existence of your Almighty God," Archer replied plainly. "But the Root is real, any second-rate Magus can tell you that. Any Divine Being could tell you that had they still existed once the Age of Gods had passed."

"Gods? There is only one God."

"Perhaps only one Almighty God as your bible says. Maybe not. But there do exist beings with the power and existence to be considered Gods. Gods celebrated in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and other religions because they had once existed and had an influence on this world. It is also said that to touch the Root is a path to becoming a being like a God."

"Y-you are a demon. Trying to lead me to sin. You are but a challenge to my faith sent by the Devil! It is impossible for men to become God!"

"I have been called many things, a demon by many for my actions. But I speak the truth. That is what you must accept."

By the end of it her father had become eerily silent and stared at her as if she was some sort of alien.

"Go..." was all he said as he pointed to the door. They all took that as permission to flee the room and church. The sun had long since set and there was a chill in the night air, though Kyoko was hardly affected by it.

Momo shivered though and Archer had already Projected a coat for her to wear before Kyoko could move to help.

"That… went badly," Kyoko replied. She held Momo's hand tightly as they walked home. There was no way she was letting go now.

"Is Papa going to be okay?" Momo asked nervously.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Momo," Kyoko reassured her sister.

"No, you can't be certain," Archer said.

Kyoko turned back. "Archer?"

"What would a man like him so hard set in his beliefs do to anything that doesn't conform to those same beliefs?" Archer asked them.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"That book didn't conform so he hid it away. You also do not conform."

Kyoko froze, having finally realized what he was saying. "But I'm his daughter."

"Whose very existence as a Magical Girl rejects everything that he believed in. Whose wish, a power that he believes comes from the Devil, was what brought him his believers in the first place. What will that do to a man who stubbornly clings his beliefs if he were to find out?"

"…"

"In the end, for you two to still coexist it was necessary for him to know the entire truth. From there he will accept it or won't. There is a good chance that it is the latter."

"What happens if he doesn't then?"

Archer looked at the both of them with a face that showed centuries, no, thousands of years of experience. Of a mind and soul torn away by time, until all that was left was resignation. Resignation and a grief flicker of pity. "Then you cannot exist in his life."

* * *

Kyoko's father never said much about what happened in his Church. In fact he never said much of anything to her. Instead he took great effort in ignoring her and drinking his worries away. He never drank before and once he began there was a clear change in the way he behaved. He wasn't violent, not yet at least, but everyone else in the household avoided him when he had a bottle in his hands. There was almost always a bottle in his hands.

"Perhaps you should move out Master," Archer suggested one night at the park where she and Momo ate the dinner he made for them. It was simply too suffocating at home to eat comfortably there.

Momo had nearly choked on her food. "What!? You're leaving?"

"No Momo," Kyoko glared at Archer. "I'm not abandoning my family."

"Family and those closest to you are the ones capable of hurting you the most," Archer said.

"That doesn't mean I give up on them!"

"A good principle, but families can be incredibly fragile. Blood might be thick, but we decide who we consider family. Your father has yet to come to that decision."

"It still doesn't mean I should abandon him while he's still trying to cope!"

"You're not abandoning him. It's a strategic retreat and a needed break for you two," Archer argued. "He hasn't been reacted well to your presence. Perhaps if you left the house and give him time to himself, he might be able to think a bit more clearly. If not, then at least you're out of the way when he does try something."

"He's my father! He wouldn't do anything to us," Kyoko argued.

"He might be your father… but that doesn't mean he can't harm you. Even with the best of intentions."

"But I don't want my big sis to leave," Momo cried out. "Let's just go to talk to Papa together again! He has to understand?"

Archer shook his head. "That'll make things worse, if anything we should take Momo along with us."

"What!?" both sisters shouted as they both put down their bento boxes.

"She's already involved. The environment at your house isn't good for a child either."

"And running away from home is!?" Kyoko shouted.

"It's safer than staying in that house. I have some money saved up. Enough for a room at a hotel for a few weeks. Nothing fancy, but clean."

"It isn't that bad-"

"It is. And it'll likely get much worse."

Kyoko looked at her sister who was about ready to cry again. Momo was so young, yet she was watching her world was collapse around her. It was all Kyoko's own fault that her little sister was going through all this. She needed to find a way to fix this, but she didn't know how.

"Archer… let's give him a bit more a bit more time. I'm sure he'll get better," Kyoko suggested.

"… As you command, Master."

That night their father, during an argument with their mother, threw an empty beer bottle in the house. It ended up slamming against the wall right next to where Momo's head was. She wasn't hurt thankfully, but it was all the incentive Kyoko needed to quickly pack their bags and leave the house before their parents noticed they were gone.

_Where are we going?_ Archer asked as they made their escape. _The hotel I suggested is in the other direction_

_You'll see._

* * *

Mami hummed to herself as she put the base of the tea cake in the oven before preparing the milk frosting. The humming got even louder as she quickly whipped the bowl of cream with her whisk.

She and Kyoko were going spend an afternoon together drinking tea and eating cake, something they planned for weeks already. It was nice have guests at the apartment and she was grateful to have met Kyoko. Her only real regrets were the moments when she went into the kitchen to find Archer cooking something again.

Was it strange that she had gotten rather used to him just breaking in whenever he wanted? Well, at least he wasn't the worst intruder she could have on a regular basis. He did his tasks quickly, never made a mess, and only ever spoke when spoken to. His presence became at most a minor annoyance.

The doorbell rang. Mami set down the bowl and made her way to the door.

Who could that be so late at night? If it was an intruder with ill intent, well usually a bit of magic to tie them up and musket to the face was enough to chase them away.

Rather than an intruder though, Mami opened to door to find Kyoko, another girl that looked similar to Kyoko, and a grumpy looking Archer with a pair of packed bags that he carried in each hand.

"Hey Mams… could we stay at your place for a bit?" Kyoko asked.

Mami glanced at Kyoko's guilty face, the other girl's confused face, and Archer's annoyed one. The last one was, admittedly, all the incentive she needed. She took a deep breath, put on the biggest smile she could, and welcomed them inside.

After letting them in she was introduced to Momo, and well Kyoko's little sister certainly made a good first impression.

"Thank you for letting us stay at your home, Ms. Tomoe," Momo said quietly and with a slight bow of her head.

They two sisters might've looked quite similar but the younger one was very polite and actually respected Japanese formality. Not that Mami disliked Kyoko's straightforward manner of address, but to have someone in the apartment that was actually fairly eloquent was a welcome addition. Which was strange considering she was the youngest one there, but well try to get Archer and Kyoko to act polite.

The only way that was happening was with a wish.

"You're welcome," Mami replied as she set down some tea for everyone there. Even Archer, who simply took his cup and remained standing. "I apologize I couldn't bring any snacks. The cake is still being baked."

"You were making it for tomorrow?" Kyoko said as she continued to sniff the air and stare at the kitchen. "Smells great Mams."

"Thank you," Mami replied as she took her own seat. "So, is there a reason you need to stay at my apartment?"

It took a bit of time for Kyoko to explain what had happened, especially because it seemed to pain her to talk about it. Archer would often have to help in the blanks or speed things along at moments where she was reluctant to speak.

"So, if I understand the situation correctly." Mami put down her teacup. "Kyoko and Momo's father has found about her being a Magical Girl."

"Yes." Kyoko stared into her own untouched tea. "He hasn't been taking it well."

"It's to be expected considering the world we live in, that's why Kyubey encourages us to keep that part of our lives secret even from our families… However, his drinking and recent violent tendencies are quite worrying. He might be having a personal crisis of faith, but I do not believe that justifies hurting the people closest to you."

"I agree," Kyoko sighed. "It's why I finally listened to Archer and got me and Momo-"

"Momo and I," Momo corrected.

"Cheeky brat," Kyoko said though she was more amused then annoyed. "So, I got Momo and I out of the house."

"You only listened halfway," Archer commented.

"Mami's reliable, she has plenty of room in her apartment, and the money you were going to use for a hotel room could be used for groceries and paying rent."

"Oh no, I don't need rent," Mami said. "It's perfectly fine if you want to stay in this apartment." If anything, the idea of having other people live here excited her. The size of her apartment only served to remind her how… quiet her life had gotten ever since her parents died. It'd be nice to have a bit of company. "Though I do worry, what if your parents go to the police?"

"My mom probably would," Kyoko admitted. "But I never told them where you lived. Even if they were to look up your address and come here, a bit of Magic is all it'll take to hide our presence."

"Your Magic is suited for that," Mami admitted. Though she disliked having to use Magic on civilians she could understand the necessity of it.

"You're a Magical Girl too. Right Ms. Tomoe?" Momo asked.

"I am," Mami showed Momo her Soul Gem. "Our duty is to fight witches and protect the people of this world."

"Could I become one?"

*Crash* *Slam*

Mami flinched as Archer dropped his teacup while Kyoko slammed her hands on the table. They both turned their heads toward Momo who seemed hardly perturbed by their reaction. If anything, it was as if the little girl expected them to react like this.

_Yes._

Momo squeaked as Archer threw a dagger that embedded itself in the wall right next to where Kyubey appeared. That, apparently, the little girl didn't expect.

"I thought I told you to stay away, Incubator," Archer said with an edge of steel.

_Mami has given me an open invitation to enter her apartment whenever I feel it is necessary,_ Kyubey replied calmly.

"Incubator?" Mami asked.

"Kyubey. In-kyubey-tor," Archer explained.

"Oh. So Kyubey is a nickname," Mami said as she kept a finger on her Soul Gem, ready to transform in a moment. She didn't want to fight her guest, but if he was going to get violent toward Kyubey…

"Did you say I can become a Magical Girl?" Momo asked Kyubey.

_Ye-_

"No!" Kyoko shouted and immediately put herself in front of her sister. "You are not getting her involved in this," she growled at Kyubey.

Kyubey tilted its head. _I would say she's already involved. She has recently manifested her potential and that will attract Witches to her. Would it not make sense for her to be capable of defending herself?_

"We have plenty of ways to hide her from witches now that we know," Kyoko replied angrily.

"But Big Si-"

"You saw what that Witch did to me Momo." Kyoko pointed to her stomach. "You saw where it stabbed me. The same things going to happen to you if get involved."

"It's because you got hurt that I want to help!" Momo began trying to push her sister away. "I don't want you to get hurt again because I'm too weak."

"You're not weak," Archer commented. Momo turned to look at him. "Your strength lies in other areas. You don't have to fight to be strong."

_Strength is a quantifiable and measurable attribute. Momo does not constitute as st-_

Kyoko transformed and thrust her spear in front of Kyubey's face. "Get out of here now."

_As I said. I'm here on invitation from Mam-_

"Mami," Kyoko turned to her. "Could you just get Kyubey out of here? Please."

Kyoko never begged, so to see her do it now… "Kyubey," Mami addressed the Incubator. "Please leave for the time being. I'll contact you when it's safe to come back."

_Alright Mami._ It turned to Momo. _Just know that my offer is available to you at any time._

Kyubey jumped out through the window, his absence immediately calming the tension in the apartment. Kyoko though still looked she was ready to shake her sister by the shoulders until any idea of making a contract was shaken out of her head.

"Momo don't listen to it," Kyoko said as she undid her transformation.

"Didn't you make a wish though?" Momo asked.

"… And look what happened to dad," Kyoko put her arms around Momo and hugged her. "You're still… human. It might be too late for me but if there's still a chance that you could be with Mom and Dad once I'm gone-"

"I don't want you to leave Kyoko. I want to be with you!" Momo shouted into her chest. "Why can't we be together again like we used to be? Why, why do bad things keep happening to us?"

"I don't know Momo… sometimes the world is just that bad."

A brief glance from Archer was all Mami needed to stand up and leave the room so that the two sisters could have their privacy. Archer was quick to follow and closed the door to the balcony once they were outside. From there they could see the two sisters tightening their embrace.

"I never that thought the situation with Sakura's family was so…"

"Strained?" Archer finished for her.

"Yes."

"Kyoko wanted to be like you. Her perfect Mentor. It was why she didn't want to worry you about this."

"I-I'm not perfect."

"That's the act you put up though and it's what most people believe."

"But you don't?"

"I know what it's like to put on a mask."

Mami glanced through the glass door where she could see the two sisters talking a bit more calmly now. There were still plenty of tears between the two of them though. "If she had just asked me, maybe I could've helped."

"It's likely that you wouldn't have been able to change anything, but my Master would've believed that you could."

"Then why didn't she come to me?"

"Pride. She wants to help others but refuses to receive aid in turn. Only I'm allowed due to my circumstances and even then, I can tell it bothers her."

"Then she doesn't want my help? At all?" It bothered Mami that her Junior couldn't rely on her. What was the point of being the reliable Mentor if she couldn't be trusted by the people she taught?

"The fact that she brought Momo here speaks volumes about how much she has come to rely on you. She trusts you enough that she'll bring the dearest person in her life to your care."

For once, Archer's words were comforting to hear.

Mami watched as the two sisters hugged once more. Her Junior smiling despite the tears that had gathered in her eyes. "If that's what she needs from me, then I'll do it."

"What about the Incubator?"

"I'll make sure that he doesn't speak with her when you two aren't around to supervise. I know how… persuasive he can be towards young children."

"I'd rather it'd just stay away," Archer admitted.

"He's been my guide for a long time, I can't just force him out. Could you at least try to be civil around him?"

"Fine," Archer begrudgingly agreed. "While we're in your apartment. But if it starts going after Momo again-"

"I know. I'll make sure he doesn't overstep his bounds." Mami glanced at Archer curiously. "Why do you hate him so much?"

Archer's eyes became distant as he stared at an unknown horizon that he could see. They stood there in silence for quite some time, long enough that Mami had just been about to open the balcony door when he finally decided to speak. "I was once offered to have a wish, to have my dream granted."

"I thought only girls could be contracted?"

"It wasn't an Incubator. Something else."

"So, what happened?"

"It gave me my wish in exchange for my service. And that led to my ruin. Seeing the Incubator is a reminder of my mistake." He glanced through the door and looked at Kyoko. "And of my failure."


	7. Chapter 7

"So, you just have to have to hold the bag like this and squeeze carefully."

"Oh, wow a bunny!" Momo cheered gleefully as she watched Mami pour frosting on the cake. "Can I try?"

"Of course," Mami smiled as she handed the bag to her.

Kyoko grinned to herself as she watched all of this from the living room. _Definitely a good idea to bring Momo here._

_It was… shouldn't you be doing your homework?_

_It's not like Momo and I can go to school now that we ran away from home. Why is Mami having me do problems from her textbook?_

_Because she, like me, values your education. Besides, do you really want to try disobeying her again?_

Kyoko nearly shuddered as she remembered the cheerless smile that Mami had given her when she had tried to get away her schoolwork. A look that the yellow haired girl was giving her right now from the kitchen!

_You should probably start working again before she comes here._

Kyoko immediately continued working on the worksheet in front of her. _Agreed._

It took some time for her to finish, Classical Japanses and English were never her strong suits. By the time she was done the cake was in the fridge while Mami and her sister joined her in the living room.

"I swear," Mami glanced in the kitchen where Archer moved like a force of nature now that he had the reins of the place, "That man isn't human while he's in the kitchen."

"He's even faster than Mama," Momo commented as she joined them at the table and watched Archer work.

Well yea. Considering he was a Heroic Spirit, but even then, his skills in the kitchen were very impressive. "Pretty much," Kyoko commented. "He'd make a good housewife.'

"He is impressive with housework. My apartments cleaner than it's ever been," Mami said. The three of them glanced around the place where pretty much every corner had been rendered spotless with nary a speck of dust. A result of Archer's work who did this despite Mami's objections of having a guest do housework. "He doesn't admit it… but I think he enjoys this work."

"He definitely does," Kyoko admitted. There was a reason why the boy in her dreams had built up a veritable harem without even realizing it. There were other reasons, but a good meal was definitely a way to get to a girl's stomach and by extension her heart.

Kyoko might've been interested herself if she had swung that way.

"What was that Sakura? Are you interested in him?" Mami suddenly leaned in closer with an anticipated look on her face. Momo on the other hand was giving her a very strange look.

Damn it not again! Archer was right she really did need to stuff a bar of soap into her mouth. "No, I'm not," Kyoko denied it.

"Then what did you just mumble?"

"I said I might've but I'm not."

"Why not? Yes, there's an age difference, but there's nothing wrong with a simple crush."

"Because it's not possible. I don't like men!" Kyoko clamped her mouth shut as soon as the words left her mouth.

_Archer_

_Yes Master, I'll reserve a bar of soap for you from now on. Might I also suggest a muzzle?_

Mami on the other had frozen in her spot and stared at her like a goldfish. "Oh! Oh… oh? Oh… Ah…"

_I think I just broke her… again._

_Try hitting her on the head. Maybe that'll reset it._

Before Kyoko could do that, not that she was actually considering using the textbook conveniently on her table as a form of petty revenge for being forced to do homework, Mami had shaken her head quickly and composed herself. "So, you're not attracted to men… at all?"

"Nope, she likes girls," Momo quipped.

The two of them immediately turned to the little sister.

"You know!?" Kyoko asked.

Momo nodded. "I found the Mangas you keep under your bed."

Kyoko went white as all the color fled from her skin. Oh, dear god not those. "Please tell me you didn't read them," she begged. There were some books there that would've gotten sent her straight to her father's office for a lecture on the sins of lust and premarital sex.

"I was curious, so I opened one." Momo glanced at Kyoko and Mami who were staring with expressions of increasing horror. "It was weird"

"Oh god! Momo!" How much did it cost to hire a therapist again? And maybe also a tutor for Health Class. "Just forget about that."

Momo looked at her blankly. "What's wrong? Isn't Papa okay with people being gay?"

"That's not the issue there's… you know what just don't look at those books… ever."

Momo shrugged. "Okay."

"Sakura…" Mami looked at Kyoko with an expression of embarrassment… and sympathy. "I understand your preferences… and I accept them. However, you should put an effort in hiding your… entertainment."

Kyoko sighed. "Thanks Mams."

"Are there any girls you like?" Momo suddenly asked.

Never in her life had Kyoko been that ready to wring her sister by the neck. "No," she quickly lied.

"Really?" Mami peered at her and it took all of Kyoko's self-restraint to not collapse on the spot as a sputtering mess.

"Yes," Kyoko said quickly.

Mami, thankfully, the dropped the subject as Archer brought over their dinner. As always it was a veritable feast of the senses that covered the table, a medley of dishes that seemed to encompass the cuisines of countries around the world. The flavor was overwhelming as was the quantity, but fortunately they had a Kyoko at a table, and she could eat everything.

"Big Sis why are you giving me your bell peppers!"

Well almost everything. "Because you need to eat more vegetables. You're a growing girl," Kyoko argued.

"Master, we're all aware you don't like them," Archer betrayed her.

"Indeed Sakura. You need to stop being so picky," Mami betrayed her too.

"Not you too Mams!"

"And don't think I don't notice you hiding them in your napkin," Mami said.

"On another note this cake is quite good," Archer commented.

"Why thank you Ar-"

"The tea could be stronger for a bitter contrast, might I suggest a Pu-er blend next time?"

"Da- Why you!"

Dinner at the apartment almost always chaos, but it was still fun. That also was the best way to describe the two weeks that Kyoko and Momo had spent at Mami's apartment. Going out hunting witches with Mami in the day, coming back home to Archer's food and Momo's smile, and spending the afternoons with all three of them. It was the happiest that Kyoko had ever been, happier than she had ever been at her old home.

It made her feel terrible that she felt this, that she was ungrateful for her mom and dad, but she just couldn't help it. Besides, that guilt was a small price to pay for a hero, to see everyone they cared for smiling at the able.

Even Archer had to smirk with Momo around. Disagree as they might, Kyoko knew that they both cared for the little girl.

"How's your training going?" Kyoko asked Momo as Archer and Mami continued to bicker. While she and Mami were off hunting, Archer was left to watch over and train Momo while they were away. Momo had ten Magical Circuits which wasn't that impressive compared and the average Magus in Archer's world, but it wasn't like she had much competition in this one.

"It's so cool. Archer's been teaching me how to create stuff. Watch!" Momo held out her hand and a knife appeared in it which she used to cut her food.

"Projection of weapons already?" Kyoko asked with eyes wide. The knife looked good and it was done so easily. It took months for her to reach that point.

"Momo is a good student," Archer commented. "She learns quickly, and I've discerned her Elements to be Earth and Ether."

"Ether?" Mami asked.

"The fifth Imaginary Factor also known as Void," Kyoko began parroting the lessons that Archer had given her. "It combines itself with any of the four Elements in order to actualize the mysteries of Thaumaturgy. It is artificial energy that forms the basis of modern Magecraft. Though amorphous and incapable of materializing on its own, it what allows spirits to take material form."

Mami stared at her like a dead fish. She then blinked a few times before staring at her once again. "I did not expect you to be so… knowledgeable."

"Have to be. I'm a Magus," Kyoko replied.

"It's just that… I wouldn't expect it from-"

"Someone as reckless, headstrong, and stubborn as my Master?" Archer said.

"Hey!" Kyoko turned to Mami who was silent, but otherwise didn't refute what Archer said. "Ok, maybe I am some of those things. But I'm not dumb!"

"Your English and Classical Japanese grades say otherwise," Archer commented.

"I'm just focused on what's important alright! Besides my average is still pretty good thanks to Math and Science."

"I imagine you use those two a lot when doing Magecraft," Mami said.

"Yep. Also, History."

"Is that why you suddenly went from a D to a B average?" Momo asked.

"D average Sakura?" Mami asked.

"Not anymore!" Kyoko argued. "Look it wasn't important back then."

"Is it even important to you now?" Archer asked.

"No, but if I already know the stuff I might as answer it correctly and get a little practice? I'm focused, not stupid. Alright?"

"Debatable"

"Fuck you Archer!"

Momo gasped. "Bis Sis said a bad word!"

"Oh, please Momo I've said worse around you."

"That is not a reasonable excuse Sakura!" Mami chastised her. "You are to watch your mouth while you're under my roof."

"Yea! Tell her Big Sis!"

Now it was Momo's turn to be stared at like dead fish by Mami. "Big Sis?"

"Yea. Aren't you my Big Sis too?" Momo tilted her head. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No! No! Of course not." Mami brought a hand to her mouth. It was the first time her composure had broken around someone that wasn't Archer. "I just didn't know you thought of me that way."

"We're all family. Aren't we?"

Even Archer had to raise an eye to Momo's comment.

"Family..." the corner of Mami's eyes began to water. "I'd be happy to be your family."

* * *

Kyoko finished the rest of the food quickly and once Mami had calmed down she practically demanded that she and Momo take the first bath. It was never much of an issue, being sisters and all, but then Momo decided to ask a question while they were both in the tub.

"Do you like Mami?"

That question was asked in such an innocent and curious manner, that it somehow made it worse. Kyoko struggled to find a way to lie to her sister, before eventually giving up and telling her the truth. "Yes."

"Why don't you tell her?" Momo asked.

"Because it's complicated."

Momo tilted her head. "How is it complicated? You like her. So, you should let her know and see if she likes you."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then you'll know."

"But Mami will too. And she's my mentor… I can't let things get awkward, not while I still have so much to learn."

"Is learning to fight more important than love?"

"L-love?" Kyoko stuttered. "It's not love. I just like her."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No, it isn't."

Momo scoffed. "Love is weird."

"It is," Kyoko admitted. "But that's not what I feel for Mami." For now, at least.

"Is that why Papa hates us? Because it's complicated."

"… He doesn't hate us. He's just… conflicted."

"Archer says he might."

"He's not always right," Kyoko said as she made plans to talk to Archer about watching his words around her sister.

"He seems pretty smart though. I mean isn't he teaching you?"

Kyoko shook her head. "Trust me. He's probably one of the biggest idiots in the universe… Same as me I guess."

"So, you're both stupid? But you're stupider? That's why he can teach you?"

A splash of water on her sister's face was Kyoko's answer to that question. This then quickly lead to a frantic and messy battle in the tub where the two sisters attempted to send jets of water at each other's faces. It was an arduous fight that lasted a long time, only to be stopped once they had emptied half the tub and Mami began shouting at them from outside the door to stop wasting the water. Eventually this led to a truce, though the war was far from over.

* * *

"Do you remember what I told you Momo?" Archer asked the younger Sakura sister as he watched her draw upon her active Magical Circuits. Three were active while only seven more within her remained dormant. It was still enough for what they were doing while his Master and Mami were off hunting.

"Judge the concept of creation, Hypothesize the basic structure, Duplicate the composition material," Momo recited as a pencil appeared in her hands. She used it write on a blank piece of paper, though the marks she made on it quickly disappeared once she had gotten rid of the Projection. "It doesn't last long-" Momo muttered to herself as she stared at her empty hand before looking at the blank paper again. Though the lead markings had gone away, the indentations on it from the writing still remained. "But its fine if I just need something really quickly. You said that some Magic needs expensive stuff to do right?"

"Yes," Archer replied. "As an example, rituals often require a sacrificial item."

"Then could I make a copy of the item and use that?"

"You can."

It was impressive that she came to this conclusion without him or another Mage telling her that. Whereas Kyoko favored and focused on the practical, Momo was showing signs of excelling at theory and experimentation. She had the disposition of a scholar and a researcher rather than a fighter, though that was a hardly a mark against her. If anything, even with her with her mediocre Magical Capacity, she would've likely been considered a prodigy by the Clock Tower of his old world.

"I can't copy your Tracing right?" Momo asked.

"No." There were seven steps neccesary to achieve the Tracing that Archer was capable of, most of which that Momo would likely never utilize, but the fact that she was able to achieve the first three so quickly was an accomplishment. Compared to Kyoko and a certain foolish boy, she progressed at an incredibly rapid rate especially considering her lack of formal training.

"Because your element is Sword?"

"Yes."

"Can a person's element change?"

"Not naturally. It can be forced but very rarely. And not without great cost and strain on the Mage's body."

"So, everything I make will always disappear?"

"Technically everything fades away with time. But yes, you will not be able to make any objects that will last particularly long."

"What should I learn now then?"

"Alteration might suit you," Archer suggested. "It will allow you to strengthen or even add properties to an existing object."

"Let's do that!"

Archer created a knife in his hands and begin showing Momo the basic steps of Alteration.

It had taken weeks to convince the older Sakura sister that copying his Magic was impossible. However, unlike Kyoko, Momo wasn't very stubborn, knew when to move on, and generally let him dictate the direction of their lessons.

Not to say that Kyoko didn't have any merits as a student. Though a firm hand was often needed for her lessons she also pushed herself and let herself be pushed beyond the normal means of what she focused on. This led to her becoming quite the quick study in combat, even before she had become a Magical Girl.

Flexibility in contrast to sheer determination. A scholar to contrast a warrior. Neither were superior, just different. Yet despite those differences the two sisters got along very well.

"Mr. Archer do you have any family?" Momo asked during a break between the lectures.

"I thought you considered me family?" he asked.

"I mean other than us. Isn't there anyone you cared about?"

Archer paused and considered his answer. "I did."

"You did? What happened to them?"

"… We drifted apart. A long time ago."

"Do you ever think about seeing them again?"

"It isn't possible now." At least not this iteration of him.

"Oh… Could you tell me about them?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to learn more about you."

Unlike Kyoko, Momo didn't exactly have a dream cycle to tell her anything about him. It wasn't like he had any obligation as a Servant to tell someone who isn't his Master anything either, but…

"I had an old friend. She was a lot like your sister actually. Stubborn, headstrong. She was the one who stuck with me the longest. A person who I could always rely on… I'm actually somewhat glad she isn't here to meet her. They could just as easily tear down this entire building trying to kill each other as they would get along." The latter would likely be worse. The things the two of them would've ended up doing together… it was enough to make him almost shudder at the thought. Why were all the woman in his life so frightening?

"Sounds like Big Sis. She really likes to fight, doesn't she?"

"Yes. She can be quite confrontational at times."

"Its… scary. Her smile when I see her fight with you."

His master's gift with a spear wasn't the only reason he had compared her to a certain Lancer Servant. Rather it was something that she didn't know about, the wide and frantic grin on her face that appeared often in the heat of battle. Her desire for combat, bloodlust, that was thankfully tempered by the fact that there was endless supply of enemies for her to fight. It was something he was used to seeing on the people around him, but he could understand why it would frighten a young child like Momo. "She enjoys the thrill of battle, but she doesn't do it to hurt people. She only ever uses her powers against Witches after all."

"I know but…"

"She will never hurt you. I can promise you that," Archer told her

"What about other people?" Momo asked.

"There are a lot of people in this world. Bad people or even just people that she can't agree with. Sometimes she'll have no choice but to fight them, and I have been preparing her for that. But in the end, she doesn't like to hurt people, she'll only do what she feels is neccesary."

"I'm just worried for her."

"Sometimes you need to have faith in your siblings, or at least that was what my little sister used to tell me."

"What was your little sister like?" Momo pointed to herself. "Like me?"

A smirk appeared on Archer's face as he shook his head. "No. Not at all. She was very cruel towards strangers or people she didn't like. I was one of those people for quite some time."

"How bad?"

"Sent her bodyguard to kill me. When that failed, she ended up tying me to a chair to demand my loyalty." No need to tell her how said bodyguard did actually end up killing him in several timelines he had been summoned. Death by Heracles is never very pleasant.

Momo flinched. "Ouch."

"It was bad at first. But after we talked it out, I realized that she only did that because she felt betrayed. She was very loving and attached herself deeply to those she cared for. All she needed was for someone willing to stay with her..." Archer remained calm even as he remembered a young girl with white hair withering away on a bed in front of him. A girl who deserved much more than the life that she had been given, his sister. Another person he had failed to save. "To the very end."

"Will you stay with us Archer?" Momo stared at him hopefully and with a bit of fear in her gaze. It was a gaze that he could not outright deny.

"I-"

Momo flinched and suddenly turned her head to stare at the wall, or rather something past it.

"A witch?" Archer asked.

"Yes," Momo replied.

"Can you point me in its direction?"

"It's that way," Momo pointed a finger. "But it's getting closer really fast. I think it's coming right for us."

Archer suppressed a curse. The chances of one just wandering toward where they lived… was actually not that low considering their numbers. Still, he couldn't help but curse his E rank luck.

It wouldn't take long for the Witch to detect Momo and head straight for her. There was something about the girl, perhaps her affinity with Ether, that seemed to attract witches in general.

He looked at Momo carefully and considered his options.

His first option would be taking her and run. However, that would leave them and Mami without a home if it decided to settle here. There was also a good number of people here that could easily become its victims.

It would be best to fight it, but he wanted to avoid having to take Momo with him. She had little to no capability in combat currently and she wasn't his Master, so she wouldn't be able to give him any support. If anything, she would be a liability that could get the both of them killed.

Archer took out the flip phone his Master had gotten for him and tried to call her.

Tch, no signal. They were likely fighting another Witch right now then. Even if he could call them though, they had planned to patrol on the other side of the city. It would take hours for them to come back, time he didn't have.

In the end he might have no choice but to run with the girl.

"Archer," Momo said to him worriedly. "A lot of people live here. It'll hurt them if it comes here."

"I know," he replied.

"Are you going to fight it?"

"Maybe."

"Is it because of me?"

"…"

"Then you can go. I'll stay here."

He had considered that… but leaving a young girl alone in this apartment? It didn't sit right with him.

"I'll make sure the windows and doors are locked," Momo continued. "It's Mami's home as long as I stay here, I should be safe."

The apartment was hardly the most secure location against a Witch or a dedicated intruder, but if he was able to deal with the threat before it got there it wouldn't be an issue. Momo was a smart girl. He knew she wouldn't go off running into trouble while he was away, unlike his Master. In the end leaving her here and dealing with the Witch itself was the best option, especially with Momo having already pointed out its location to him. Still wasn't good. Better than the alternatives though.

"I'll be back soon," Archer said as he vanished into the air. "Stay safe."

* * *

Momo remained alone in the apartment, the clicking of the clock being the only sound to accompany her as she sat there. Mr. Archer had only left a few minutes, but she was already struggling to keep herself from crying.

Being alone scared her. Thinking about the Monsters that he and his sisters fought frightened her even more. She wanted to run out, find them, and make sure that they would be okay. But she couldn't. She made a promise to stay here and she had to keep it.

There was a reason why she wanted to fight with Kyoko, and she was reminded of it every night. It was lucky her Big Sis was such a deep sleeper, or she would've noticed her waking up nearly every night in a cold sweat. All because of a dream, of watching her Big Sis getting killed by that Monster.

That Witch.

Sometimes Kyoko would get torn apart. Other times she would get eaten alive. No matter what though she always died and there was nothing that Momo could do about it.

A knife appeared in Momo's hand. She went over her previous lesson and used Alteration to lengthen the blade and sharpen its edge. She then stood up and stabbed it in the empty air.

"Hah!" she shouted as she swug. Again, and again, and again. She stabbed the Monster, the Witch that she imagined in front of her. She imagined tearing it apart, limb by limb, the source of her fears. If she could kill it… kill every single one of them then her Sister would be safe.

The knife disappeared as she exhausted herself, her breath heavy just from pretending to fight someone.

It would be a long time before she would be able to do that, if her Big Sis would ever let her do that. It wasn't like she ever trusted her to do anything anyway, unlike Archer. Maybe she could actually get him to take her along one day. They would just have to keep it a secr-

The knife reappeared in her hands as she spun around to face the stranger that had entered the apartment.

There, standing next to the open balcony window, was a girl in a frilly white dress and large white top hat. The outfit was pretty, and she would've liked to take a closer look if she wasn't worried about a stranger breaking into the apartment.

"Who… are you?" Momo asked hesitantly. She had been around both her Big Sisters long enough to recognize a Magical Girl and she had been warned that not all of them were friendly.

The woman stepped down and curtsied to her. "Hello, Momo Sakura. I am Oriko Mikuni."

"What do you want Ms. Mikuni?" Momo asked. Oriko's voice was polite, elegant almost, yet it also felt like she was looking down on her. Like she felt that she was better than her.

"I am here to deliver a message?" Oriko replied with a gentle smile quite similar to Mami's. Unlike her Big Sis though, it wasn't comforting at all. If anything, it was scary.

"A message?"

"Yes. I have come to tell you of the truth of Magical Girls."


	8. Chapter 8

Kyoko took a deep breath as she pulled her spear back out of the Witch's… face or whatever it was. Either way it was very satisfying being able to strike the killing blow for once and watching it collapsed in front of her. Even the screams the damn thing let out was music to her ears. The fate of any monster that tried to prey on innocent people.

"Good job Sakura."

She glanced back at her fellow Magical Girl as the labyrinth collapsed around them. "Nothing to it Mams." They undid their transformations as they were brought back to an empty construction site. "Wasn't really that tough was it?"

"That's because you've gotten stronger," Mami admitted.

"Thanks." No grief seed this time sadly, but just killing another Witch was reward enough. They still had a few stockpiled between the two of them so it wasn't like they'd be in trouble anytime soon. "It's pretty early ain't it?" The sun hadn't even set yet despite their plans to take the night to hunt it down. It was a testament to how trivial it had been.

"It is," Mami replied. "We should head back. I'm sure your Sister will be glad to see you back early."

"Yea." Kyoko began shuffling her feet. It was just the two of them right now. Wouldn't this be the perfect chance? "Actually, do you want go hang out? You know, since we have the time?"

"Hang out?"

"No Witches or anything. Just two girls hanging out. We haven't done that… ever now that I think about it."

Mami looked a bit surprised at the suggestion. Like she had never considered just hanging out with a person, which knowing her was probably true. A bit of a workaholic that one between school and hunting Witches.

"S-Sure. That sounds wonderful Sakura," Mami eventually replied.

Kyoko resisted the urge to cheer. It wasn't like it was a date or anything. Or was it? Did it count if the other person didn't even know it was a date in the first place?

"So, what would you like to do?" Mami asked.

A nighttime stroll next to the river holding her beautiful Mentor's hand while whispering sweet nothings to her ears, was the first idea that popped up in Kyoko's head. She then immediately stabbed said idea with a spear before going to a more reasonable plan. "We could go shopping at the mall or maybe catch a movie? Your choice."

Mami put a hand to her chin as she considered the options. "I would like to go shopping. I've been meaning to get you some new outfits anyway."

"What's wrong with what I wear?"

"You need to diversify your wardrobe. You could at least stand to wear a skirt or two."

Kyoko wanted to refuse as she had enough of skirts at school. Those damn airy things that didn't provide much protection and made her feel vulnerable down there. Granted her Magical Girl outfit was a dress, but it was a Magical dress with decent protection. She also wore a pair of shorts underneath so it wasn't like anything could see anything down there while she was jumping around.

But then again if this was a chance to play dress up with the girl, she liked…

"Fine but you got to try some of things I pick out for you," Kyoko replied.

"That's perfectly agreeable to me."

The two of them made their way to the nearest small, the cell phone in Kyoko's back pocket left forgotten and untouched.

* * *

"No." Momo stepped back as she tried to stop the tears from flooding her eyes. "It can't be. Mami, Kyoko. Big Sis can't become a Witch!" She couldn't her sister couldn't become one of those disgusting monsters. There was no way.

"Kyubey has deceived us all. That is the truth and eventual fate that all Magical Girls must face."

"Including you," Momo replied.

The woman nodded serenely. Despite everything she just said she still had that scary smile on her face. "Including me."

"Aren't you scared?"

"I am aware of my fate. What must be done, and I have accepted it."

"B-bu you can't just give up. There has to be some way to save everyone!"

"At this moment the only way to relieve them of their fate, is death."

Kyoko had to die? Kyoko would either have to kill herself or become a monster? She would become one of those things that had tried to eat her?

"No," Momo begged. "There has to be another way."

"There is. Though the question is, do you have the will to do what's neccesary?"

"What?"

Momo didn't have much chance to say much more Oriko suddenly began walking towards her. She backed away, trying to get away from the white Magical Girl, only for her back to quickly hit the wall. She conjured a knife and held it up, hoping to use that to stop the Magical Girl, but Oriko easily pushed it aside with her hand. Trapped with no way out, Momo was helpless as Oriko stopped just inches away.

"My power is precognition," Oriko informed her. "I can see the future."

"You can?" Momo's eyes went wide. "Does that mean Kyoko will be saved?"

"Perhaps. The future is not certain. I can see one of many possibilities of the actions that we take that will lead us there. As it is now though, Magical Girls are still doomed to their fate."

"But it's a possibility, right? That means it can be changed?" Momo asked, clinging to that small hope that was being presented to her.

"Yes, you are a smart girl to figure that out. There is a way to change it and it is all up to you."

"You need me," Momo realized, a bit more confident now that she knew she wasn't going to be hurt. However, she was still very confused. "But why me?"

"Your sister is one of those who holds the path to our salvation. However, she is walking down the wrong one as she now. That needs to be corrected."

"What does she need to do?"

"Not her. You."

"Me?"

"As I asked before. Do you have the will to do what's neccesary?"

"Why me?"

"Because both you and your sister shine so brightly," Oriko suddenly cupped Momo's face with a hand and forced her to look up into her eyes. Momo tried to squirm away but her grip was just too strong. "Each of you are instruments of revolution, the potential to completely reshape the future. To change the fates of countless others in this world."

"Then we'll work together!" Momo shouted defiantly despite the position she was in. "Me and Kyoko will do what it takes to save her and everyone else!"

"What wonderful resolve," Oriko released her before patting her on the head. "But resolve will not be enough."

"Why not?" Momo pushed the hand away. "You said the future can change."

"But there is only one path I see that leads to salvation and it is very thin. There will only be room for two of you."

"Exactly! Me and my big Sister!"

"What about Archer?"

"How-"

"I know about him the Servant brought to this world. Much more than you ever did."

Momo simply stared at Oriko in silence.

"No matter who is partner is, he must walk the path of our salvation. So, who will be the one to stand by his side?"

There was only room for two. If Archer had to be there no matter what, then she and Kyoko…

"Tonight, you must make your decision. You shall be the one who decides who shall walk with him."

"And the one who doesn't?" Momo asked.

"Will have their own role to play." The smile that had been present on Oriko's face that entire time suddenly disappeared. Somehow that made her even more frightening. "So, I still haven't heard your choice,"

"Wh- How could I possibly choose!?" Momo looked down at the ground. "You're lying," she muttered to herself. "It has to be a lie. I shouldn't listen to you." That was the smart thing, rather than just blindly following what this Magical Girl told her despite what she had just said. All Momo had to do was just wait there, until her Big Sis came back. Then they could hug, talk it out, and figure things out together.

"Don't believe me then. Don't choose." Oriko leaned in until her mouth was just next Momo's ear. "Just let your Big Sis fight and die for you. Like you always do."

* * *

Archer picked up the grief seed even as bits of smoke still continued to come out of the singes of his clothes.

The fact that he had encountered a Witch with a strength bordering that of a lower tier Servant was expected considering their numbers, but it was still troubling. He wasn't injured but he had to resort to several Noble Phantasms from his arsenal before the damn thing finally went down. He would have to discuss it with his Master later when she got home.

Archer turned to block the black sickle that had tried to strike him from behind with Kanshou.

After he interrogated the enemy trying to sneak up behind him of course.

He then swung with Bakuya at his assailant only for them to block it with another sickle. They then drew three more pairs of sickles from their white sleeves that they used to strike at him. He blocked several of swings before kicking them in the stomach and forcing them back.

It was a Magical Girl in a dark gray and white outfit. In her arms were her weapons, eight red and black sickles. Most notable to him though was the eyepatch she wore; he had a feeling that eye wasn't even injured in the first place and it was just the design of her transformation. It was rather unnecessary and stupid considering that covering an eye would normally interfere with one's depth perception.

To be fair, it probably wasn't an issue for her in the first place because… well Magical Girls. It also wasn't that outlandish of an outfit compared to some of the Servants on the throne, but it still unnerved his more practical senses.

"Are you that desperate for a grief seed?" Archer asked the Magical Girl. It was the most likely possibility with the information he currently had.

"I just came to fight you," she replied casually.

"For what reason?"

"Cause I was told to."

"So, you're just a tool sent my way. For money?"

The girl's eye went wide as her face suddenly became unhinged. Well as unhinged as you could get looking like something straight out of those slasher flicks that Momo liked to watch when her sister wasn't there. "Money? You think I choose to be with her for money?"

"Loyalty then?"

She leaned forward and began tilting her head. "What we share is not that trivial. Loyalty is finite. Love is finite. Those we choose to express either of those in gradation are ignorant of their true essence. Tell me, do you know true love?"

He did, at one point, but he wouldn't tell her that. "A fanatic then."

"Faith is finite too." She lifted a clawed arm in front of her. "I am devoted to her for infinity." A savage crazed smile appeared on her face as she tensed her legs. "She is my world; She is all I need and anything that she deems unnecessary shall be wiped from this world!" She ran at him recklessly.

Archer raised his blades and readied himself to end the fight in a single strike, when he felt Magic begin to envelope him and his surroundings.

Time Manipulation. She was separating the passage of time inside a designated space from the flow of time in the outside world. The field was enough to lower his Agility by a single rank, perhaps even more if he wasn't putting effort into diminishing its effect, and the area it encompassed around her was quite large. This gave her more than enough speed to match him, in fact she was just a bit faster.

Their blades clashed and it soon became apparent what would've been a quick and instant encounter was now becoming a drawn-out affair thanks to her Magic.

However just because she matched her speeds didn't mean she matched the countless years he had spent as a Counter Guardian and a Servant of the Throne. That experience couldn't be matched alone by a crazy little brat and soon enough he began to push her back.

She went for one of the openings he presented to her only for him to switch the grip on his blade, grapple with her scythes, and fling them aside where they embedded themselves in a nearby wall. With both of her hands disarmed, he quickly swung both his blades at each of her sides. She wouldn't be able to deflect or dodge both of them.

At least not by herself.

He immediately jumped away to avoid the metal sphere that had been shot had him from above, his Mind's Eye worked well to prevent him from getting caught by surprise by the new combatant.

He glanced upwards and found another Magical Girl in white standing on a rooftop above them.

"Oriko!" The Magical Girl in black called out. Judging by the reverent tone of voice, the one above them was her Master.

"I thought I warned you to be careful fighting him Kirika," Oriko chastised her, but not too harshly. More like a mother lecturing a misbehaving daughter. "And you still don't listen to me, despite my warnings." She sighed in a bourgeoisie and condescending manor. "Though I had predicted that."

The bloodlust that radiated from Kirika was just gone in an instant, replaced instead with the face and attitude of a sullen child. "Aw. Come on Oriko. He left himself open to a killing blow. I'd be stupid not to take it."

"He does that on purpose. He leaves openings in his stance to-"

Archer threw his blades into the air only for Oriko to knock them aside with her orbs. Normally this wouldn't have stopped them, but she had caused them to collide with each other. Their attachment achieved; they simply fell down to the ground as a pair rather than continuing to harry through the air like he had planned.

"To invite your attacks so that they can be parried or countered," Oriko finished casually.

Archer created another set of his blades as Kirika had jumped at him once more. After blocking a few strikes, he left his side open hoping to take a small cut in exchange for decapitating an arm. Before the black Magical Girl could fall for it though, another metal orb was sent at him. He was forced to block and give up on the feint.

He continued to trade blows with Kirika all while having to avoid and deflect the metal orbs being sent at his direction.

Not only did they work well together, but it seemed like the one in white knew a considerable amount of what he was capable of and countered accordingly. Anytime he tried to set up a trick, technique, or feint she would stop it before he could even set it up. It was as if she could predict everything that he planned.

A Mind's Eye even stronger than his? Or was it even some level of Precognition? Either way she proved to be a danger.

By themselves, each of them wouldn't have been an issue. The metal orbs were certainly versatile, but they lacked power and defensive ability and Kirika wouldn't be able to compete with his experience even if she could match his speed thanks to her Magic. Together though they had forced him into a stalemate, the black one keeping him at bay from her fragile ally and the white one preventing him from utilizing his tricks.

It became apparent that fighting as he did now wasn't going to work. The best strategy would be to utilize the ranged capabilities that his class was supposed to be known for and snipe them outside their range. The Archer class was made up of archers after all. However-

Archer jumped back and tried shooting Oriko with his bow. He could only get a few shots off before he had to switch back to his blades to deal with Kirika. These arrows were quickly knocked aside by the orbs and the Magical Girl in white continued to leisurely follow the two of them.

They weren't letting him get away. As long as Kirika remained in his vicinity then her magic would slow him enough that he couldn't just retreat. It would be best to dispatch of her but-

He was forced to deflect four orbs sent at him from above. Kirika then suddenly somersaulted in front of him and struck his cheek with a scythe she had attached to her foot. He hopped back and ignored the savage grin she had given him for actually drawing a bit of his blood.

Once again. Oriko was preventing every attempt to do so. It didn't help that he used a significant portion of his Magical Reserves to kill that previous Witch. Thanks to Independent Action he was able to conserve his remaining energy, but he would only be able to use one or two more Noble Phantasms. They would be his best option to end this fight quickly though. All he needed was to make a single opening.

"Trace On."

Ten, Twenty, Thirty, blades appeared in the air above him. Simple mundane weapons that didn't take much energy to use. Though they lacked power and range compared to the arrows he shot from his bow, they made up for it with the speed and ease in their use.

He lifted his hand up and they all shot straight for the Magical Girl in white.

"Oriko!" Kirika shouted as she immediately jumped to deflect the blades even though they were no threat to the other Magical Girl.

The solution was simple in the end. Just because the one in the white knew what he was doing, didn't mean her partner did. And her partner was very devoted to her safety.

The time Kirika took to defend Oriko was all that Archer needed to draw from his Reality Marble and bring his weapon into the world.

He nocked the pitch-black arrow against his bow and fired. It flew into the air and headed straight for his target.

Kirika tried to block the arrow only for its power to knock her aside as it continued on its path towards Oriko.

Hrunting: Hound of the Red Plains one of the magical swords wielded by Beowulf and the one he used in his battle with the Mother of Grendel. A blade that would always seek to sniff out and draw blood. Turned into an arrow it became a magical bullet enveloped in red light that reached incredible speeds as it took the most direct path to its target. Even when parried, repulsed, or avoided, it would continue to pursue the target as long as the shooter kept aiming at them.

Despite the power of the weapon though, Oriko remained serenely calm even as the arrow flew toward her. Even as it was just inches away from her face.

And then she was gone.

Disappeared in an instant. Archer hadn't even blinked. The girl was just gone, she was there and then she wasn't.

He turned to the other Magical Girl, ready to make her Hrunting's next target, only to find that she had disappeared too.

With no target left to hunt, he let his Projection disappear in the air.

Another Magical Girl with some form of teleportation? No, even if it was less than a second, he would've sensed them the moment they appeared on the battlefield. Remote transportation maybe? The ability to move objects from a distance? That would mean they would have a range outside the detection of an Archer Servant though.

Either way, it was dangerous. Two Magical Girls with abilities suited to countering him were able to force him into a stalemate. Add in a third combatant whose abilities he still couldn't discern, and they might have a good chance of killing him if he wasn't careful. Doing that against a Servant was an impressive feat and it said much about the power of the inhabitants of this world.

It was something that he'd have to warn his Master about.

With nothing left for him here, Archer made his way back to the apartment with his blades still in his hands. He made sure to take a more roundabout path and went into his Astral Form several times in order to lose anyone that may or may not have been following him.

Why him though? Were they really that desperate for grief seeds or were they aware that he was a Servant? The fact that he had ended up here didn't entirely discount the idea that other Servants or just other people with knowledge of them existed in this world. If that was true though, then how did they know about him? He always made sure to keep his presence in the world subtle and that no one else apart from Mami, his Master, and Momo had ever seen him fight. Was there a group that escaped his notice? Or did they have some way, either a tool or some form of Magic, that allowed them to learn about him?

And the timing of that attack… just after they he had been forced to confront a Witch. They went for him at a time when he would be weakened and yet they chose to run rather than continue to fight him, despite their advantage. What was the point of that confrontation? It wasn't to kill him apparently, they put too little effort with the advantages they already had, but then why? To stall? What would they have to stall for? The only thing left-

Archer shifted his feet and ran straight for Mami's apartment.

It didn't seem likely, but when you got rid of all other possibilities then all that remained had to be the truth. Besides the sequence of events that had happened was too much to be considered a coincidence. There was a small part of him that wished it was though, even as that cynical side of him constantly denied it.

Unfortunately, his cynicism was ultimately correct as he opened the balcony door to an empty apartment.

He quickly scanned the area once he checked that the bedroom and bathroom were also empty.

There were signs of an intruder at the same door he went through, but no signs of a struggle. Momo was better at detecting Magic than he was, she would've noticed something was off and at least left something behind before they had taken her.

He opened the guest closet and found one outfit missing, along with Momo's home clothes neatly folded and set aside.

She had willingly changed her clothes and left the apartment. Someone had been here, but they hadn't taken her. Whoever they were, they had somehow convinced her to leave willingly. Not very difficult all things considering Momo was still an impressionable young child.

He should never have left her alone. He should've simply taken her with him to safety. But that would've meant abandoning and likely sacrificing the entire apartment complex. Even without his dream, he still couldn't do something like that.

In the end, the fault for Momo's disappearance was his own.

Then, as if all the non-existent Gods in this world were out to spite him, he could feel his mental connection with his Master reestablish itself as she got within his range.

_Momo's missing,_ Archer informed her.

_What!? I thought you were watching her. Why did you leave her alone!?_

He didn't need to see her in person to tell that she was frantic and panicked. _There was a Witch heading straight for the apartment. We agreed that it would be best if I dispatched of it while she stayed behind._

_Damn it, Archer! You should've just taken her and ran away._

_And the other people at the apartment?_ He wasn't making excuses, but rather he wanted to see how his Master would answer.

_They would've been… fine. At least until Mami and I got there. You should've just kept Momo safe!_

So, she still prioritized her family over her dream and other people. She had denied the idea of sacrificing her Sister to save the many. That was some comfort to hear, even as his Master was conflicted over her decision.

_I apologize. I should've prioritized her most of all._ If he had been given an order from his Master to prioritize her sister over others, then the choice of taking Momo away from the apartment and running away would've been much easier to make. Sadly, hindsight being 20/20 was a constant in any timeline or universe.

As was Murphy's Law.

_Why would she leave though? Is it because of Dad?_ His Master asked.

_No, she wouldn't have left just because of that. Not without good reason. After I hunted the Witch I was attacked by a pair of Magical Girls._

_What!?_

Archer quickly described his encounter with the Magical Girls as he began looking for any traces Momo left behind for him to follow. The issue was though that was he never a dedicated tracker and it was difficult to discern her tracks from the countless others left by the people that walked these streets. He made his way to Kazamino instead, hoping to find Momo in places she often went to.

_Mami says she's never heard of an Oriko or Kirika,_ his Master informed him. _Why would they attack you?_

_I have many theories and none of them conclusive. What is clear though was that I was separated from your sister and stalled while she was convinced to go elsewhere._

_What could they have told her to run off like that?_

_I don't know. But this situation is dangerous. You two better be careful._

_You should be worried about Momo!_

_I am. You just have to realize that those three Magical were able to fight a Heroic Servant to stalemate. If they attacked you and Mami-_

_We can handle it!_

They couldn't, but he decided not to argue that with her. _I'm already heading to your father's church to see if she ran off there._

_No, Mami and I are closer to that side of Kazamino. Try checking her school and the park instead. I'll deal with my… dad's church and home._

_Are you certain you can handle it?_

_I'll use my magic to hide myself… or just send Mami to check. He hasn't met her yet._

_Understood._ Archer replied as he made his way towards Momo's school. His Master was adamant on heading to the church and her old home. In the end she would have to deal with what waited for her there. He could only hope that she would be able to handle whatever was to come.


	9. Chapter 9

Kyoko ran as fast as her legs could take her on top of the highway that would lead them back to Kazamino. Her illusions hid her and Mami from any cars that passed by, allowing them to move as fast they did.

It still wasn't enough. She needed to be even faster.

"Don't transform Sakura," Mami told her. "If you do it now you won't even make it to the city before you tire out."

Mami was right, but that didn't change the fact that Momo was missing. And a pair of Magical Girls was responsible. One black and one white.

Why her though? The only Magical Girl that Kyoko and Momo knew was Mami. Why did two complete strangers go out of their way to attack her Servant and kidnap her little sister?

"Are you sure you don't know anything about them?" Kyoko asked. "Anything at all? Reasons why they would take Momo?"

"No. I have no idea why anyone would go after you or your Sister. I also haven't heard of any girls with the ability to manipulate time or see the future in the surrounding areas," Mami replied.

"There has to be something we're missing! There's no reason why Momo would go running off with them!" Kyoko shouted.

"Sakura, calm down."

"Calm Down!? My little sister is missing!"

"And we will find her," Mami replied calmly. "But panicking won't help her. It'll only leave you vulnerable should they decide to attack us."

If a pair of Magical Girls capable of fighting on par with a Servant suddenly attacked them… Well it was a thought that even gave Kyoko pause. "Do you really think one of them can see the future?" The only information they had was what Archer had told them.

"Everything seems too well planned," Mami began to mull. "The Witch heading to my apartment, Archer getting attacked while he was weakened, and Momo being taken. Any number of things could've gone wrong for them, such as the timing, but it didn't. That seems to suggest something beyond precognition as Archer suggests."

"But still. Seeing the future?"

"It isn't outside the realm of possibility. A wish often determines the unique magic a Magical Girl manifests. A wish to see or perhaps change the future might give a person some ability of Foresight."

"How do we deal with someone who can see the future then? We can't exactly catch them off guard."

"There has to be limits of what they can do. Magic like that would likely take a significant amount of Magical Energy to use. We would have to pressure her, force her to use up her magic or put her into a position where the future doesn't end well for her."

"So basically… hit her as hard as I can?" Kyoko suggested.

"Yes. Surprisingly," Mami admitted. "The simpler a plan, the less opportunities she has to turn it against us. Archer is the type to think and analyze everything so I can see why it would be a bad matchup for him."

"I'm still surprised they could give him a good fight."

"It was bound to happen. There's a lot of different Magic in this world. We won't always be the strongest nor will we have the most favorable matchups. The best we can to is adapt for when those situations come."

Still… As if the fact that her sister was missing wasn't enough, but there was also the shock that Kyoko felt by her seemingly invincible Servant be vulnerable for once. Granted he came out of it fine, but the fact that he could be pushed back and actually bleed…

She needed to find Momo and she needed to get stronger. Strong enough that she could kill those bastards for messing with her Sister.

Whoever and wherever they were.

* * *

Oriko sat comfortably in her family's garden, miles away from where she had a fought the Servant in red and black. After brewing the tea, she began to fill three separate cups. "Would you like sugar and milk with that Kirika?"

"Anything you make is perfect for me Oriko," Kirika replied eagerly

"Straight black it is in then."

Kirika immediately frowned in disappointment. "Aw."

Oriko chuckled before putting three sugar and a generous portion of milk in the tea for her partner. She then turned toward the other figure that continued to remain standing despite the chair offered to them. "How do you like your tea?"

"Was fighting that man really neccesary?" The cloaked figure asked.

Oriko filled her own teacup before deigning to answer the cloaked figure. "Yes. We had to make sure that he wouldn't interfere."

"Interfere with what?"

"That is something you do not need to know."

"I'm quite certain that I do."

"Hey!" Kirika shouted. "Oriko told you that you don't. You wanna listen to her or do you wanna fight?"

"Kirika. No." Oriko chastised her partner.

"Aw."

Oriko turned back to the cloaked figure. "As I was saying. You'll get what you desire as long as you fulfill certain duties for me. I won't require you for another two years though so you can do what you want until then."

"What I want is to eliminate any threats to her safety," the cloaked figure replied.

"And yet you haven't killed me yet." Oriko took a sip of her tea. "That means that our interests happen to align."

"For now," the figure admitted.

"If any of us fail to do what is required, then I'll have no choice but to-" Oriko hardly flinched as a GLOCK 19 was pointed to her forehead.

Kirika was tense, but she was loyal and would follow her orders. Well, most of them. Sometimes she needed a good scolding or two.

"Die by your hand." Oriko continued. "I simply won't sit idle as the world is brought to ruin, while you would do anything to protect her. However, this time might be different."

"How?"

"There is a chance, a single possibility of salvation," Oriko explained as she casually pushed the gun away. "The salvation of all Magical Girls, a world where she would never become a threat to us. A chance only granted to us because of the meddling of a certain being."

"The Kaleidoscope," the figure grumbled.

"Yes, the one responsible for bringing you and that Servant here."

"All for their entertainment."

"Whatever their motives are, it is because of them that you have the opportunity to break from the cycle that has kept you trapped for so long. Why not take this chance to try something new?"

"New is bad. It is something that can't be predicted or planned for."

"It was because of that predictability that you were trapped in the first. Sometimes radical action is needed to enact change. Use this opportunity to do something different rather than shadowing her all day."

"I need to protect her."

"She won't be approached yet, not for another two years at least. You have plenty of time to try something else. There's another of you still in a hospital that is available for when that time comes."

"That person is a weakling. A liability that leeches off the kindness of others. She won't do what's needed to be done."

"I could say the same of you." The figure remained still, though Oriko could tell that her words had gotten to her. Being able to see countless possible futures of people tended to give one's words a certain bite.

"We're done here," the figure said as they sat up. "Don't call until you need me."

"Of course."

The figure was gone in an instant. Nothing left of them except for single cup of tea that had gone untouched.

"I don't like her," Kirika grumbled.

"You don't like anyone that isn't me."

"Aw."

* * *

Momo arrived at the entrance of her old home. The one that her Big Sister had taken her out of. The one where her father and mother still lived.

She had always resolved herself to eventually come home, to try and patch things between her father and sister, so it wasn't difficult for her come here on Oriko's orders.

She didn't like Oriko though. In fact, she hated her. And this was the first person she ever hated, which said something about how creepy she was. But Momo loved her Sister more and if coming here was apparently what it would take to save her, then she would do it.

The lights were off and there didn't seem to by anyone home though. Momo knocked on the door anyway. It was the polite thing to do. No one answered though, so she used a bit of Magecraft to mess with the lock and open the door herself.

She was greeted by a silent hallway. The darkness that pervaded the place seemed more ominous than ever.

What did she have to be afraid of though? This was her old home.

She flicked on the lights and carefully stepped inside.

Mama and Papa were probably missing the two of them right now. They would be glad to see her and hear news that they were both doing fine.

Momo arrived at the living room and was surprised to find that it wasn't empty. Her mother seemed to be sleeping at the dining table, while the bathroom door was open to show her father washing his hands in the sink.

"You're back," her father commented without turning around. He continued to wash his hands in his sink.

"I am Papa," Momo replied as she walked up to the dining table and sat across from her Mother. "Hi Mama." Her mother remained silent as she continued to have her head buried in her arms.

Wow. Mama must've been really tired. That was probably why the room was also so dark, apart from the single candle that was lit on the table.

"I see you chose to abandon your heretic of a Sister."

Momo wanted to deny her father's words, tell him that Kyoko wasn't a heretic, but no. She had to be the mediator between them. "I just wanted to see you again," she decided to say instead.

"After you abandoned us too?"

"I didn't do that… I just didn't want to leave my Big Sis."

"She's a Witch."

Momo flinched as she was harshly reminded of the fate of every Magical Girl. Kyoko wasn't a Witch though, not yet at least, and she would never become one if Momo had a say in it. "She's not a Witch. She just wants to do her best to help people."

"By selling her soul to the Devil."

The Incubators might as well be Devils for what they did to her Sister, but she wasn't going to tell her father that… yet. "She didn't sell her soul to the Devil."

"And yet she has forsaken God. Taken on some Pagan Magic and used it to curse this family."

Momo was starting to see where her Big Sis's stubbornness was coming from. "We aren't cursed."

"But we are. You just don't realize it." He finally turned around to look at her. "You simply don't realize it do you? My followers, they were all enamored by her Magic, I know that now. What I've labored for my entire life has been turned into the Devil's work."

"Papa-"

"No longer though."

He began to walk toward her in an ominous way. Scary enough that Momo got out of her chair and quickly backed up. As she stood, she hit the table and caused the candle to topple over. Its fire began to start lighting up the sheets, though she had something else to worry about at the moment.

"I will free us all," he continued. "Just as I did your mother."

Momo looked at her mother and realized that she hadn't moved that entire time. She was completely, utterly still. "Mama?"

Distracted at the sight of her mother, she could only gasp as her father grabbed her neck. She was pushed down before she could try to get away. Her head hit the floor first. It hurt and everything began to get blurry around her. She let out a silent choke as her father tightened his grip around her neck.

Momo grabbed her father's arms and tried to push him off, but she was too weak. She wouldn't be able to push him off. Not with her own strength.

Time seemed slow as she struggled to breathe as everything around her began to get darker. She could barely think, barely realize that her father had likely done this to her mother.

Her father killed her mother. He was now going to kill her. After that he was going to do the same to Kyoko. Her Big Sister couldn't die.

And just like that, a brief moment of clarity came to her mind. That was why she was here in the first place. To stop her sister's death by their own father's hands. If he was going to kill them all… then there was only one thing left to do.

She forcibly activated her Magical Circuits. Her entire body became hot from the strain.

Judge the concept of Creation.

Hypothesize the basic structure

And finally, Duplicate the composition materials.

The three steps of Projection that Archer had taught her. These words that she knew intimately, were the ones she called on at that moment as she brought the Magic to her hand. With her spell finished, she gripped her right hand thrusted it forward.

And just like that the choking stopped. Everything stopped. All that was the sound of fire as the tablecloth began to light up and the horrified look on her father's face.

He fell on top of her, his body threatening to crush her if she hadn't used Reinforcement to push it aside. He fell onto the floor. She looked into her eyes and could only see disbelief and fear in them. He looked at her like she was a monster, like she was the Witch that had brought ruin to his family. And then that faded until there was nothing left in his gaze. The knife that had been jammed into his stomach soon too faded away into nothing.

The only sign of what had happened was the blood that came out of the wound. The same blood that now covered her hands. Momo could only stand there and stare as that blood began to pool on the floor of her home.

She had killed him. With her own magic, with the knife that she had created. She was a murderer.

She fell to her knees and her body shook as she put her hands atop her face. She didn't care that that blood was now staining her face, she just couldn't stand to see the corpse in front of her.

Momo screamed. Her cry echoed throughout the home, but no one came to answer her.

This had to be a dream, right? If she just covered her eyes long enough then she'd wake up and the corpse would be gone.

But when she eventually took her hands away the body of her father was still there. It wasn't a dream. She had killed her own family. Her mother was dead because she didn't act sooner. Her father was dead because she was too weak to stop him in any other way. And soon Kyoko would die if she continued to stay with her. Her sister would die because she was useless.

_Hello Momo Sakura._

Momo turned her head and looked at the Incubator. Like always, it appeared out of nowhere. But it was no longer the guardian angel that Mami had once described it. No, after everything she had learned she knew that its swaying tail and large eyes promised nothing but despair and damnation. It was a Demon, a Devil, and it was now here to entice her with a contract.

But even Demons had their uses. And besides, she was already damned anyway.

_What do you want to wish for?_

* * *

Kyoko ran toward her old home alone. After checking the Church to no avail, she had told Mami to keep watch of the surrounding area. Kyoko had argued it was a precaution in case those Magical Girls that attacked Archer came for them, but in reality it was because she needed to confront her family alone. Even if Momo wasn't here she had to make things right with her father, if only so that they had a proper home to return to.

In the end it was all for Momo. Everything that Kyoko had done recently was for the sake of her Sister. It had only taken her now to realize that.

Did that make her a bad hero? Did she have a right to put Momo before other people, even if they were complete strangers?

Was there any point in acting like one when all it did was bring pain to her and her family?

Kyoko suddenly couldn't feel her legs. She fell to the ground and realized that her entire body felt cold. She couldn't figure out what had happened, she couldn't even gasp. It was as if she had lost control of herself. That was horrifying thought and the chill that spread throughout her was only a terrible reminder of that.

Then slowly warmth seeped back in. As if the heat that was once lost was finding its way back in. It was a different sort of heat, but a familiar one that seemed to be replacing something that had been lost.

And then it ended.

Kyoko gasped and found that she could actually move again. She pushed herself up with her hands only to freeze once she realized something was missing.

Her Command Seals still remained, but the ring that once held her Soul Gem was gone. She stood up and jerked her head around the area in case she had dropped it. But no, she didn't, Mami had told her something like that happening was impossible. You couldn't just misplace the Soul Gem on your finger, it had to be taken off willingly or forcibly ripped off by someone else.

She hadn't dropped it, it had disappeared. That power, that strength that had been ready to course through her body at a moment's notice was now gone. All that was left was the energy being produced by her Magical Circuits.

It should've been near impossible for something like that to happen, but she didn't have the time to figure it out. She needed to find Momo first, then she'd worry about why she was no longer a Magical Girl.

Kyoko activated her Magic Circuits and sprinted the rest of the way. In minutes she arrived at the front porch of her old house and threw the door open.

From the hallway she could see a light in the living room. A light that casted shadows that danced wildly against the wall. Intimate as she was with her element, it only took her a second to realize that there was a small fire.

She began to prepare a quick spell to snuff out the flames as she ran to the doorway. She entered the room, raised her hand, and-

Kyoko froze. Her hand still extended. Her eyes growing wide as she looked at the puddle of blood on the floor that came from her father. She looked at her mother collapsed sideways on the floor.

The growing flames that began to consume the table were ignored as she walked forward and kneeled on the ground to check her father first.

He was dead. Bled out. Had to be with all the blood that now pooled the floor. Blood that came from a wound dealt with by a knife. Yet the weapon wasn't there, it wasn't anywhere in the room from what she could see.

She stood up and rolled her mother over. Her bloodshot eyes and the bruises on her neck told Kyoko what had happened. Only her father had hands that big.

Soon a picture of what had happened developed in her mind. There was only one more thing that she needed to check to complete it.

But she didn't want to. She didn't want to confirm what it was that she already knew. Because if she did… then she would have nothing left.

The table collapsed on its legs as the flames consumed them. Sparks and ash hit her body, burning it, but she couldn't feel it. The fire began to spread along the floor and countertop. That too was ignored as Kyoko made her way to the bedroom. The same one that she and Momo had once shared.

Kyoko opened the door. It was there that she finally found Momo. It was there where Kyoko found her sister bring held up in the air by a noose around her neck.

A single step forward. Then another. Each one was just bringing the inevitable closer to Kyoko as she slowly made her way to her sister. She burned the rope and let her sister's body fall into her arms.

It was cold. Not a single heartbeat, not even a bit of warmth came from it. It was just empty.

Kyoko gently laid the body onto the floor. Momo looked almost peaceful. As if she was taking a nap and would wake up at any moment. On her hand was a ring with a purple gemstone, the answer to why Kyoko was no longer a Magical Girl. She didn't care about that now though.

"Momo."

She should've never been here. They should've been back in Mami's apartment. They were supposed to be eating cake, doing schoolwork, and laughing as Mami and Archer bickered.

"I'm sorry."

But they couldn't go back to those times. It was too late now.

A single drop fell onto Kyoko's hand. Then another. Then countless others began to fall.

"Momo…"

The tears wouldn't stop coming. They continued to soak her sister's shirt even as the fire spread from the living room and began to burn the doorway behind her.

"MOMO!"

Kyoko screamed. She screamed until her throat became sore. Then she forced her Magic into her lungs so she could scream even more. But there was no one else to hear it. Nothing to accompany her, but the sound of the fire all as it spread across the entire room. She screamed until the smoke made it impossible to. Then she buried her face into her sister's chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She coughed as her own tears began to drown her. "It's my fault. My fault. T-this shouldn't have happened. It was me."

She did this. Did this to her family. Did this to her Sister.

Trying to help others, trying to play the hero, it all led to this. Archer had warned her. He had kept trying to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. And now all of this happened because of her. Because she had to chase after some dumb foolish dream.

Kyoko hugged the still corpse of her little sister. The flames quickly began to consume the bedroom. She could already feel the flame start to lick against her back. That only made her hug her sister even harder.

The house would burn, her family would burn, and the two of them would burn together.

She could feel the flames leap across her back as a darkness overtook her. Her despair, her sorrow, she would let herself drown in it completely and then let it all be burned away in the fire. That was a fate that suited a Witch like her.

But then she felt something warm press against her. It wasn't the fire. It wasn't trying to consume her but rather it was firm… and somehow gentle. She couldn't help but find comfort in the pair of arms that began to envelop her.

Anyone that had hugged her like this in the past was now dead. Whoever was doing this should've been a complete stranger to her, but for some reason she could recognize the strong embrace of her Servant.

It didn't make sense. He was a man who had only ever flicked her on the forehead or carried her around like some burdensome object. It seemed impossible to imagine him with a strong yet tender embrace, but here it was right now.

"What are you doing here Archer?" Kyoko asked him as she still held onto his sister.

"Doing my duty." His was voice was strong, firm, yet somehow also gentle.

"What duty?"

"As your Servant."

A Servant and a Master. That was what they always were. A pair of people that never really got along, that always set up a wall between each other. They were convenient to one another, suitable to their each other's purposes. There shouldn't have been anything beyond that.

"You don't have to stay," she told him. "You don't deserve this." He had always stayed beside her. He had always tried to help even as she refused to listen. That sort of loyalty... it didn't deserve to be burned away with some stupid foolish Master.

"Find a new Master." She didn't even know if that was possible. But if it was then he could certainly pull it off. He'd be able to find someone who could treat him better.

"I could," he admitted. "But I think I'd rather just stick around with you."

The fire didn't hurt Kyoko that much anymore. She knew that he was taking the brunt of the flames for her. Even as a Servant, there was only so much he could handle. Eventually the flames too would consume him if he continued to stay.

He didn't deserve to burn. Not him.

"What if I command you to go away?" she asked.

She could practically feel the smirk that he was giving her. "Then this will be the first time I disobey you. If you wish to burn in this fire, then I shall burn with you."

"Why… why would you stay with me?" she asked. He had performed his duty. Worked for her unerringly without any payment or thanks. Why would he continue giving her more? Why would he decide that this was a just reward for everything he had done?

Fire now surrounded them, having completely enveloped the room. Soon it would consume the both of them.

Despite Archer still didn't move. "Because no one should die alone."

And then it clicked. Everything he had done; he had done for her. Not out of some duty that had been forced on him, not out of some stupid foolish ideal. He did it for her. A little girl that never realized what she truly had. A girl who was going to be taking away the last thing he had left in this world.

Kyoko finally let go of Momo. "Take me away." She commanded him not with her Command Seal but with her own voice. "Take me away and stay with me until the very end."

It was a selfish wish. Something that she didn't deserve to make after everything she had done. But she knew that he would grant it for her.

Kyoko's sorrow and despair, the flames that had burnt her body, the weight of that all finally began weigh down on her body. She would have fallen to the floor had Archer not picked her up and carried her in his arms. She wanted to thank him, wanted to say something, anything, to him. But she couldn't, the darkness that consumed her sight was just too much.

"I promise I will… Kyoko."

His promise brought her relief. That relief was what finally allowed her to close her eyes and rest.

* * *

Archer stood on a nearby rooftop, with his Master in his arms. He watched as history repeated itself, the flames continued to spread across her old home. The same flames that would burn away everything that she once knew.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't turn to look at Mami who had come to see the aftermath. He remained stoic, continuously staring at the fire. Eventually the Magical Girl left once she finally realized that she didn't belong there. He didn't even spare a glance in her direction.

The only thing that had his attention were his own thoughts.

He had initially decided to stay in this world, because it was time that he wouldn't have to spend under Alaya's orders. Orders to kill and kill and kill, countless numbers of people. Many of whom only had the crime of simply being there when an incident that threatened humanity happened.

He had fought and he fought for a dream. Constantly striving for greatness, even though he was ordinary. Constantly fighting even as everyone he once knew abandoned him. Even as the people he strived to save, the world he fought for, turned around and betrayed him. Then he finally achieved a miracle, a wish and a contract as he laid there bleeding.

He gave up a peaceful death and was rewarded with never-ending war. In the end his ideal, his wish to save everyone, had betrayed him too. It was impossible to save everyone, yet he didn't realize that until it was far too late. When he signed a contract that left him with nothing, but a field of swords where he would eternally curse his fate.

Left with nothing, he had no purpose even as he attempted to take advantage of this fleeting yet peaceful break from his duties. Yet even that was taken away as soon a contract was offered to his own Master.

No matter the world, there would always be a hopeless dreamer that would eventually lead themself to destruction. There would always be a wish and the foolish hero that would accept the contract. Never realizing what it truly entailed until it was too late.

In the end he had done what he could. She had made her own decision, to follow a dream that actually belonged to her, and this was the natural result of her choices. By all rights this was the price that she would have to pay.

And yet, seeing her alone and helpless in that fire stirred something within him.

It was why he couldn't help but comfort her in that moment, couldn't help but embrace her and wish that she too wanted to be save from the flames. Even now, that desire was calling him as he looked at his arms where his Master laid.

Abandoned by everyone she loved and betrayed by the very ideals she once held; it was a wonder if she'd even survive by herself. And if she did, would that be a life worth living? Her contract was gone, even now he could tell that she was no longer a Magical Girl.

One last parting wish from Momo before her death. A wish meant to save her sister from her fate, but it had also left Kyoko without a purpose.

No purpose, no family, nothing left to live. At this point dying in that fire below would've likely been a mercy.

So then knowing this, what right did he have to save her? Especially when his desire to do so came from that same ideal that doomed him in the first place?

Archer wiped away the ashes that had covered her eyes even as his fist trembled.

There were two people in his existence that he cursed. One was the boy that would eventually become him. Second was the man that was the source of his ideals. The man that was responsible for the countless lives he had taken before and after his Contract. By saving his master would he would be doing the same that man had done?

It wasn't right. He should just leave her be. It would be the best for the both of them.

But he couldn't let her go. He wouldn't let her go. Not until she wanted it herself.

Was it right for a man who had been forsaken by his dream, to feel so happy at the thought of saving just a single person? To have something in his arms that proved to him that it wasn't all for nothing? That his actions had led him to this?

Archer's hatred for the man known as Kiritsugu Emiya still remained… but now more than ever, he could understand his actions.

The fire trucks finally came and the men within quickly began work at putting out the fire. Archer simply watched as they worked to eventually put out the flames. Until all that was left was ash.

No matter the world it always seemed to have a twisted sense of irony. Was it fate that this would happen to her or was it because of his presence in this world? It was impossible to know, yet his answer would be same.

No matter what, he would continue on. Always cursing, always suffering. Looking for the day when his existence would finally end. Even though it never would come.

Perhaps now though, for just a fleeting moment, he could find some happiness with the little girl he held.

* * *

A young girl moved quietly in the alleyway; her face hidden by a white fox mask. She wore a grey hakama patterned with black and a purple kimono fringed with grey. Around her waist was a large a black ribbon, its long tails fluttering behind her as she walked.

The Incubator hopped down onto the pavement and walked alongside the girl. She didn't even turn to look at it, having likely long noticed its presence. They walked in silence for quite some time, neither taking the time to acknowledge one another.

Eventually they arrived next to an empty street. The girl then grabbed the Incubator by the scruff of its neck and threw it onto the street. It barely had the time to pick itself up before being promptly run over by a stray car.

_You sisters are quite alike._ The Incubator replied as another of its bodies appeared at the other side of alleyway.

"We're not sisters," the girl hissed from behind her mask. "Not anymore… she's safe without me."

_Is that why you faked your death?_

Against other Magical Girls or Magi, this girl's abilities would render their spells useless. Most notable however was her ability to temporarily sever the connection between the Soul Gem and the body, forcing the target Magical Girl into a deathlike state.

That was what she had used to feign her own death. To have the skill and will to use her body like the puppet that it was just minutes after contracting was an impressive feat for her kind. As was taking back control as soon as her sister left and using her Magecraft to prevent her body and Gem from being burned by the fire, all without anyone noticing. A testament to her skill and adaptability as a Magical Girl and Magus. It was a shame that it had to give up the contract for the older Sakura sister, but the younger one certainly more than made up for it.

To think that it would've likely ignored her if Oriko had not advised it otherwise. It would have to thank her for that. It was the courteous thing to do after all.

"There's… no room for me there."

_It shouldn't be difficult for them to find a home that can adequately house the three of you._

The girl glanced at it. "You're really clueless."

The Incubator tilted its head. _The knowledge we have exceeds even the most intelligent of your kind._

"You don't even know that you're doing is bad."

_We are preventing entropy. Saving countless lives in the future. What we are doing is logically correct._

"Just because you're logically correct still doesn't mean you're morally right."

_We find your kinds' sense of morality illogical._

"I will kill you," the girl announced. "I will find a way to kill every one of you."

_You wouldn't be the first to try._

"I'll still try anyway. Monsters need to die."

_Was your father a monster?_

The froze for a moment. "He killed Mama and would've killed Kyoko. He was a monster," she said uncertainly, as if she was trying to convince herself of that.

_He was a human. Just like you were._

"Shut up," she replied before walking away. The Incubator tried to follow only to find that she had disappeared around the nearest corner.

It seemed that she would be difficult to track and observe. Oh well, at least it wasn't entirely necessary. The chances of her causing any issues for it in the future were near non-existent.

With its duties in Kazamino done, the Incubator strolled off elsewhere in order to find its next mark.


	10. Chapter 10

Masara moved quickly yet cautiously along the alleyways of Kazamino as she headed towards the meeting point. Despite it being her first time there it had been simple enough to memorize the maps of the city and find the quickest route to her destination. All to meet a certain individual.

They called her the grief seed merchant. A strange girl who operated in Kazamino who kept calling herself a Magus and denying any rumors of being a Magical Girl. As her title implied, she sold grief seeds, but not for the wares that were often exchanged by an Adjuster.

No, all she wanted was money and a lot of it.

It would seem suicidal to sell grief seeds for such needs alone, as they were such a valuable resource for Magical Girls, yet this merchant always seemed to have a large stockpile on hand. This was made stranger by the fact that Kazamino wasn't even that big a city in the first place, there would only be enough grief seeds there to support a few Magical Girls at most. There would be no way the merchant would've been able to hoard so many seeds from a single location, not if she had to use them herself, but she was never seen straying far from her territory.

This only led into her claims that she wasn't a Magical Girl at all. Knowing this, more than a few Magical Girls had tried to invade the merchant's territory to get their hands on those seeds. Not a single one ever came back.

That was why Masara was cautious as she made her way to the meeting point. Thanks to her wish she had plenty of money to spare, the exorbitant prices the merchant would charge meant nothing to her really, though this would actually be her first time buying them. It wasn't necessary in the past, she was more than capable of fighting off the witches of Kamihama by herself, but ever since that yellow tonfa wielding Magical Girl started following her around… well best to keep a few extra just in case.

She heard a rustling above and immediately turned with her Soul Gem in hand, ready to transform. A figure dropped from above onto the alley below. They had long pale red hair, tied into one long ponytail by a green ribbon. They wore a light seafoam hoodie, denim shirts, and long black boots. Most strange enough though was the spear that she held in her hand.

For all intents and purpose, it looked like a regular weapon made of steel. Sturdy and most definitely sharp at the end yet that alone wouldn't have made her a threat. However, Masara couldn't help but keep her guard up despite that. She also couldn't assume that the merchant was alone either. There were rumors that she was constantly followed by a figure in Red and Black that was ready to strike at any moment. Whether it was another Magical Girl, Magus, or something else, no one really knew.

All anyone knew for certain was that the merchant was more than she appeared. Anyone that had seen what she was capable of never came back to tell anyone else about it. There were never any witnesses left over once the fighting started.

"You came early," the merchant commented with an annoyed expression on her face. "When I tell you to come at five, you come at five, not ten minutes early."

Masara reached into her pockets with one hand, the other still on her Soul Gem, and took out a box of Pocky.

The merchant's eyes lit up as Masara tossed the Pocky to them. They put their spear against their shoulder and caught the box. It didn't take long for them to rip it open and put a stick in their mouth.

It was well known that food was best way to get them into a good mood. Dropping it on the other hand would be a death sentence.

"Glad to see some girls out there that have respect for the resident Magus," the merchant replied with confidence, almost bordering on arrogance.

"Do you have the seeds?" Masara asked plainly.

"Right to business huh? And straight faced too. I like girls like you, makes things simple." The merchant lifted up the side of her hoodie revealing a black crop-top underneath and a large medley of grief seeds hanging from within. It was enough that even Masara's eyes were raised. "Fifty thousand yen each. Cash only."

Very exorbitant prices that very few magical girls still in school would be able to afford. Masara on the other was not most magical girls.

With an emotionless face she reached into her coat, pulled out a thick stack of notes, and walked up to hand them to the merchant.

"I'll take ten."

The merchant whistled as she quickly began counting the notes. "Rich girl too. Been a long time since I had an order this big."

"Will it be an issue?"

"Nope, none at all." The merchant pulled out a leather satchel and filled it with the agreed upon grief seeds. Once it was filled, they quickly handed the satchel to her and began walking away. "Make sure you go back the way you came. Last thing I want is to have to get rid of a customer like you."

Masara turned around, ready to walk away.

"Oh, one last thing."

Masara paused.

"You wouldn't happen to know about a Magical Girl in white that can see the future would you?"

"No," Masara replied honestly. Though she was white clad Magical Girl herself she had no ability to see the future.

"Tch. Well if you ever do learn anything lemme know. I'll throw in a couple of grief seeds for you."

Masara simply walked away. Even if she did learn something, a few grief seeds wasn't worth getting in the middle of that.

* * *

The sale had gone wonderfully, much better than Kyoko had initially expected when she had been first contacted by that Magical Girl. Ten grief seeds sold at once, five hundred thousand yen that she now had on her.

It was enough to make her feel giddy with the weight of that stack of cash bouncing around in the inner pocket of her hoody. In fact, she was so elated that she had used Reinforcement on her legs so that she could quickly get home to slap a certain individual with that fat stack. It only took her ten minutes to arrive at the front of her home thanks to her Magecraft.

The place was reminiscent of a samurai's mansion, albeit a small one, and was one that perfectly suited their needs. Granted Kyoko would've perfectly fine just slumming it out in whatever hotel room they could find, but Archer had insisted that they build a home with the funds that they had saved up.

Not that she would complain. It was certainly comfortable even if she didn't quite understand his obsession with koi ponds, archery ranges, and that one wooden shed she was forbidden from entering. She had tried getting in there once only to get caught and then sent to the dojo for a session of training. Even as a Magus it took a long time to recover from the welts and it served enough as a warning to stop from every trying again.

"I'm home old man," Kyoko called out as she slid open the front door and took off her shoes. Even from the entrance she could sniff out the familiar scent of his cooking in the kitchen.

"How was business Kyoko?" a familiar voice called out from the kitchen.

Kyoko snorted. "Like you weren't watching."

"Even I can't read lips or count the bills she handed you from that far away," Archer replied as he poked his head out of the kitchen. He had recently begun letting his hair down while in their home, making it rather reminiscent of the boy that she had seen in her dreams. She kinda liked it. It made him seem more… domestic.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you could. You always have something up your sleeve," Kyoko said as she snuggled herself into the kotatsu in the living room and smugly placed the stack of cash on the table. Thank the Root for Archers and their Independent Action ability. His effective range, the bounded field around their house, and their irregular yet frequent patrols made it difficult for most Magical Girls to get in without them knowing. The ones that did never lasted particularly long. "Sold ten seeds."

"That's a lot."

"Yep, we can finally start digging that Koi pond you were looking forward to. Never thought building a home for fish could be so expensive. And why do you need them, don't they need constant care and eat nonstop?"

"Sounds like someone I know," he replied in that familiar cheeky tone of his.

"Oh, screw off Archer."

Kyoko grabbed the remote and switched on the flat screen TV. The first thing that would appear from the screen was a news report of the disappearance of a young girl in a nearby city. She shook her head and immediately changed the channel.

Nothing new, even if she did have a slight suspicion as to who it was that had gone missing. There was a newbie a week ago, a meek girl that had been a few thousand yen short for a seed. Kyoko still let her have it anyway on top of some advice on how to hunt witches. At that point it was on the girl if she still couldn't survive.

After switching channels Kyoko settled on some random magical girl anime.

"I can't be the only one that sees the irony in this," Archer commented as he walked out of the kitchen with two large bowls of udon and several sides as accompaniment.

Kyoko shrugged. "It's a dark comedy. Girls doing things over stupid ideals with a world that has been so drastically twisted that everything works out for them. In the end everything else has to pay and they don't even know it because they're trapped in this happy little dream of theirs."

"That's one way of putting it," Archer replied as he set dinner down on the kotatsu.

Kyoko didn't hesitate to immediately grab her chopsticks and slurp down the still steaming noodles. As always, his food legendary, better than what she could from any restaurant in the city. After several straight minutes of eating she took off her hoodie and used it to wipe down some of the sweat that had gathered on her neck.

"The witches have been moving strangely," Archer suddenly commented casually between small bites of his own food.

"How so?" Kyoko asked. Archer was an observant person, but he usually preferred to stay silent about most things he saw and deal with it himself. If it was something, he had to inform her about, well it was certainly trouble.

"It's as if they're being led away, all sharing a single direction. We'll have to take care of any we can find close to the borders before they cross it and we lose the right to hunt them."

"And we're going to need them considering how many we just sold," Kyoko replied. Thankfully, she no longer needed seeds for herself which made any grief seed they did gather up ready for sale. It was easy money using the skills they already had after all. Still, it was still worrying and annoying that someone or something out there was stealing their witches though.

"Do you have any idea where they're going and what's luring them away?" Kyoko asked

"Not yet. We could leave one of the weaker ones alive so that I can follow it."

She wasn't the only one that had gained something from their bond. After a few years since her contract with him. Perhaps it was remnants of her time as Magical Girl, but he had become as skilled at detecting witches as any Magical Girl. There were still some Witches out there that gave him trouble to find, but at least he wasn't blindly combing the city street to street anymore.

"Are you saying you're getting to let this Witch walk free where it might eat civilians?" Kyoko asked.

"You and I both know it would be simple enough for me to divert it before it becomes a threat to people," Archer replied.

He was a bit of a bleeding heart that killed any Witch or familiar he found. In her opinion it was very inefficient to kill the latter when they weren't in your way, as they didn't drop grief seeds until they ate enough people and became Witches themselves. It was like killing the goose before it laid an egg, but it was something that he seemed firm on.

"Fine, we'll go with your plan," Kyoko replied.

"Try not to get into any trouble while I'm away."

"I can handle myself." She was perfectly capable on taking on weaker Witches and Magical Girls by herself. The only other threat would be the Incubators, but they stopped coming after she had lost her contract. Of course, they still put in plenty of effort at putting up Bounded Fields around their house in case they ever showed up again. Always best to keep an eye out for those rat bastards, never knew what they were planning or when they would pop up again.

"Arrogance is the enemy," he simply replied. "It only takes a single mistake in battle to get yourself killed. It doesn't matter how strong you are."

She rolled her eyes and simply focused on finishing her food. First hunger, then exhaustion, and now arrogance. How many things did he consider to be an enemy?

Once she finished with her food, she stood up to get a bath and a nap before they went to hunt. Before she could walk away though, Archer put a small box in front of her.

"What's this?" she asked as she eyed it carefully.

"Happy birthday."

Huh. She had almost forgotten about that.

Kyoko stared at his neutral expression for a few moments before carefully picking the box up and opening it. Inside was a simple yet well-made black ribbon. She had suspicions it had all sorts of spells and enchantments put into it, but she still appreciated it. He always did put her safety first after all.

She silently undid her old ribbon and turned around so that Archer could tie the new one into her hair. He did so quickly and once he was done; he created a mirror for her look at.

The ribbon suited her quite well.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

A rare smile, a genuine one not laced with sarcasm or regret, appeared on his face.

"You're welcome."

And just like that, she was now fifteen.

* * *

Archer sat on the porch of the home that he had built in his home under the gaze of the full moon. His home… their home. To think that he had adapted to domestic life so quickly after several millennium of acting as a Counter Guardian. Apparently old habits died hard after all. Kyoko certainly helped in that regard.

So, this was how his father had once felt raising him… It was nice. Even if it was only a temporary reprieve.

"You should get your rest. We're not leaving until another hour," Archer said to his Master who had stepped onto the porch behind him

"Nightmare," Kyoko replied as she took a seat next to him. She was already dressed and ready for their late night of hunting. "Thought I'd join you out here instead."

The Servant remained silent as he took comfort in her presence. They stared at the moon in silence for some time.

"A Counter Guardian, huh?"

Archer closed his eyes. Four years it took for her to learn that. The Dream Cycle certainly took its time in this world.

"Yes," he eventually replied.

"Looks like we were both screwed by bad contracts."

"Yes…"

His body controlled like a machine, forced to fight in an endless war. Forced to slaughter countless people who never deserved it, no matter how depraved Humanity could be. If Kyoko had been shown that dream first-

"Wouldn't have made my wish if I had seen that first," Kyoko admitted.

"My apologies."

Kyoko snorted. "What are you the one apologizing? You're not the one who signed my contract or made me waste a wish on something useless. Not like you can control the dreams I get either."

"You got them because you summoned me."

His Master waved him off. "Yea. But knowing the old me I still would've accepted that contract if I hadn't summoned you. And without you," she looked back at their home, "I have no idea how I'd survive."

Archer snorted. "You'd survive. You're tough that way."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't be as comfortable, and I wouldn't have such good food. I owe you a lot Archer, so if there's anything you need."

If there was one thing that she was good for, it was that she'd always go out of her way to repay a debt. She refused to give out favors, but she also refused to owe someone if they did do something for her.

Stubborn, but admirable in its own way.

"Just staying in this world is payment enough," Archer admitted. Even if this world was as flawed as his old one, anything was better than returning to his duties as a Counter Guardian. Eventually this dream too would end, but for now he would enjoy it. "That means you'll have to keep yourself alive and healthy for as long as possible."

Kyoko grinned. "Of course. I aim to live long comfy life. Just for me."


	11. Chapter 11

Kyoko sat in the classroom, hardly listening to the teacher's lecture as she continued working on the diagram in her notebook. It was the same rune she used for her Flame Step, name pending, but slightly smaller and adjusted to be placed on the shaft of her spear. In theory it would give her an explosive force behind some of her attacks, she just had to figure it out how to do it without blasting her body in the process.

Maybe nab a couple of familiars and use them as test subjects? She certainly had plenty of energy still left to burn. Last night's hunt with Archer was standard, almost boring in fact. She was almost looking forward to a tough fight or, failing that, the excitement of experimentation. Apparently, she had become quite the mad scientist in recent years.

"Emiya, perhaps you'll know the answer to example four."

Kyoko continued scribbling as she opened up the textbook with a single hand and quickly went to the correct page to read the problem.

"50π^3"

Compared to the problems she had to solve while doing Magecraft, math classes in her last year of middle school were practically nothing. Granted it didn't really help with English, or Classical Japanese, but at least her Math and Science grades rounded it out so that she had good grades overall. Not that she really cared, but Archer had demanded that she continue her education and maintain at least a B average.

"Correct. Impeccable as always Emiya."

She nearly smiled upon hearing the name that had been given to her by Archer. It was a good name and it seemed to roll of her tongue every time she said it. Much better than Kyoko Sakura.

Kyoko Sakura was a fool that ended up destroying herself and everything she loved with her beliefs. She was dead, burned in a house fire. Good riddance at that.

Kyoko Emiya would be the smart one. The one that wouldn't suffer trying to play the hero. Instead she would be the one who survived and lived a nice long life for herself. It also rolled off the tongue better.

She continued working on her rune up until the bell finally rang and class ended. She quickly packed up and got ready to head home. She was already wasting enough time at school, time that could be spent Hunting witches or studying her Magecraft, so she had no desire to join any afterschool activities despite encouragement from the teachers.

It was also less time she'd have wear the damn uniform. The black skirt was just too long, while the black blouse and white undershirt were too stuffy and constricting. The quicker she could get out and change in the nearest public restroom, the better.

"Emiya"

Kyoko sighed as she was intercepted by another girl at the door. What was her name again? Yuri? Yako? Wait no, that one was that was a character from that old Western Cartoon. Apparently it got a reboot recently, she'd have to give it a shot sometime. "I'm not joining yer club."

Between hunting Witches and Archer's training she had become one of the physically fit people in the school and that was without any magic. It got to the point where every sports club kept trying to get her to join their team, no matter how many times she said no. What did she have to do so they'd learn their lesson? Burn the gym down? Actually, that was sounding pretty good right about now.

"No, it's not that…" the girl replied. "I just wanted to ask about that… man you've been walking around with."

"Archer?"

"How do you know him?"

"We live together." Ever since they had changed her identity and forged the adoption papers, Archer had essentially become her legal guardian. It was why they were able to live in such a large estate without child protective services knocking on their door.

"Oh!" the girl lifted her hand to her lips. "Are you two… intimate?"

"No!" It took everything Kyoko had not to empty her guts on the spot. "Why would you think that? The dude just takes care of me, nothing like…" she gagged, "That."

"So, does that mean he's available?"

Jesus Christ!?

"I'm sorry?"

"Just…" Kyoko struggled to find the words. "Do you know how old the guy is?"

"I mean the age gap won't matter so much in a couple of years."

Wow just… wow. And this wasn't the first time this happened either! Apparently, his status as a dedicated chick magnet didn't go away even when he became a Servant. Honestly, she wasn't too sure if he was still as oblivious as he was when he was teenager or was just now really good at ignoring the advances of his would-be suitors. Hopefully the latter, she wasn't sure if she could handle the repercussions of him being as dense a brick.

"I'm just going to go home now and flush my brain out with some bleach," Kyoko said as she tried to make her way past the door.

"Wait," the girl gently grabbed her by the arm and it took all of Kyoko's self-restraint not to clock the chick right there. She would've if she didn't risk getting suspended and getting Archer's, I'm not angry just disappointed look. He used that look a lot. It was very effective. "Could you give this to him," she held out a neatly wrapped envelope.

"Fine," Kyoko replied as she quickly snatched the damn confession and walked out the door. Once she was out of school, she quickly lit it up in her palms and turned it into ash. Archer might not have showed any interest in any girls that approached him- honestly if it wasn't for the dreams, she would've assumed he batted for other team like she did- but that didn't mean she was going to bother him with this. Besides he was her Servant, no dumb floozy was going to take him away from her!

_Dumb floozy?_

Kyoko flinched. _When did you get back?_

_An hour ago._

_So, any news?_ She asked hoping to change the subject.

_I tracked the witch down all the way to Kamihama before I had to turn back._

_Kamihama?_

_A large city, much bigger than Kazamino, with an unusually high number of familiars and Witches. Usually the Magical Girls there are enough to handle them, but with the recent influx of Witches they're starting to get overwhelmed._

_So basically, free pickings then. I don't they'll mind if we take a couple if they're getting swarmed. When are we leaving?_

_I'm going to continue scouting. It's too dangerous to go with what little information we have. We have no idea what's attracting the Witches in the first place._

_I can handle a Witch or two Archer._

_There are a lot of then and they're much stronger than usual. Even the familiars are tough. Strong enough that even I have trouble taking on a labyrinth by myself, at least not without taking a few injuries._

_Damn._ If Archer had trouble with those witches, then situation down must be even worse than she thought. _Are you alright?_

_Minor injuries, nothing to a Servant, but it is still worrying that they are able to injure me past my Mind's Eye. The Witches are stronger, take make more hits, and can be notably tricky to deal with._

_How do the Magical Girls there handle them then?_

_The vast majority of them fight in teams._

_What?_ Magical Girls rarely worked in groups. It was a dog eat dog world and there was enough to grief seeds to go around. It was why she was able to sell them for such a high price to desperate girls.

_Just the sheer number of witches and the strength of the grief seeds they drop are more than enough to support them. The situation there now necessitates strength in numbers. A few of the groups I've observed showed some impressive teamwork and strategy for girls their age._

_How dangerous are they?_

_Dangerous enough that they can effectively fight off Witches with comparable Servant level strength. We can probably escape or turn it around if we do get into a fight with them… but they're still a threat and I heard that there are some experienced veterans leading them._

_How experienced are we talking here?_

_A few who have been at it longer than Tomoe, with comparable strength too._

_Damn._ She might've split ways with Mami a long time ago but that didn't mean she didn't keep tabs on her. Her old mentor had grown a reputation as a veteran and was now considered to be one of the strongest Magical Girls in the surrounding areas. And apparently there were several Magical Girls in that city that could compete with her. That also wasn't considering just sheer number of girls in one location.

Though Archer could definitely take on Mami himself, the results become much muddier once you three or four of them at him at the same time.

 _Which is why it's safer if I scout by myself for the time being._ Archer told her.

 _How long will you take?_ Kyoko asked.

_I'll need another two days to get the lay of land and get a read on the situation there. Fortunately, everyone's too busy with the lack of Witches in their areas to bother with us. It should be safe enough for you here as long as you don't look for trouble._

_Okay I get it. No picking fights with other Magical Girls, I'll just focus on hunting the Witches we still have._

_Kyoko…_

_Fine, no hunting Witches._ Kyoko lied. She was still going to hunt Witches.

_Why don't I believe you?_

_I'll be fine. Just go already._

_First, we're going to have lunch together. Then I'm going cook you enough food to last you a few days. So, you don't starve without me._

_You realize I can always just order take out?_

_Really? Have you seen the nutritional value of what they serve around here? Even if there were healthier options in our area, you'd still gorge yourself on junk food and snacks if I left it to you._

_I'm not that bad._

_Don't think I don't notice all the Pocky and chips you eat outside of the house. You're going to destroy your taste buds, appetite, and body by stuffing all that junk into it._

Uh, and here came the Heroic Spirit of the Housemother class ready to lecture her over her eating habits. Again. If there was one complaint Kyoko had living with the man… _Just tell me where we're going for lunch._

_I found a fairly good sushi place nearby._

* * *

Turns out the sushi was good and affordable. It was enough that even Kyoko was still filled up by the time the sun set, and she found herself sitting on the highest building in the city. She dangled her legs off the roof as she watched the city for any Witch activity. Call it a habit she picked up from Archer, but she quite enjoyed standing from a high vantage point to gaze at everything below her and in the horizon. Even if she did have to make sure to avoid looking in the direction of a certain ruined church.

Sadly, the only notable thing that did happen for her to witness was a car crash on the nearby highway. There was a big fire and a bunch of ambulances were heading to, but that wasn't her problem. Apart from that there was really nothing else of interest that she could see from up there, even after several hours of waiting.

Welp. Time to jump around and see if she could run into something.

Kyoko Reinforced her legs and leaned forward off the edge of the roof, soon dropping into a free fall. Halfway to the ground, she pushed herself off the wall with her legs and bounced to the top of a shorter building. A simple flip in the air was all it took for her to land neatly on her feet and then jump from roof to roof.

She hadn't expected to suddenly run into the entrance of a labyrinth after a half hour of jumping around, but apparently Gaia was smiling on her for once.

She reached into a small pack at her side and began pulling out a large metal rod. The rod continued extending out of the pack until she pulled put out the sharp metal blade. She twirled her favored spear in all its glory. It was no Noble Phantasm, but it was a reliable weapon that Archer had crafted. Not a Projection but an original that he had made and designed for her specifically. The shaft was a bit thicker than usual to allow her to block and deflect tough blows with the strength and leverage it provided. The tip likewise was also very thick, large, and sharp. It was designed to stab deeply into Witches and create thick gashes into their bodies with a single swipe. Overall, it was a very deadly weapon with its only weaknesses being its extra weight, which she could easily handle thanks to Reinforcement.

Pumping a tiny bit of magic into the spear's tip, Kyoko lifted her weapon up and casually sliced into the barrier. She then entered the labyrinth through the Kyoko shaped hole that she had neatly created.

Inside was some sort of strange hedge maze, a literal labyrinth with walls made of vines and thorns that reached to the very ceiling of the witch's domain. No jumping over that and trying to squeeze through would get her ripped apart by those thorns. It would be feasible enough to set her spear aflame and cut through them, but it would likely take a considerable amount of energy to break through a single wall.

Left with little choice she ran down the maze, watching for familiars the entire way. After taking two lefts, a right, then another right into a dead end before backtracking and going left, she found a large clump of familiars.

Sunflowers in flowerpots essentially, except the center of their heads were gaping black circles leaking some sort of fluid.

They didn't seem too threatening for familiars really. Just use the length advantage of a spear to keep them at a distance an- Woah!

Kyoko jumped back as their necks suddenly lengthened and they slammed their heads where she had been standing. The fluid that seeped from their heads melted the concrete floors but stopped once it reached the dirt underneath. The familiars then spread the leaves on their stems and what was apparently their arms shot out and tried to entangle her.

She quickly began cutting them apart as she considered her next move.

These things had some sort of corrosive acid, really long necks, and vine arms that attempted to grab her as she retreated. She then glanced back and realized that these familiars were trying to corral her into a dead end where she would be cornered.

Okay screw cautious spacing, best to charge right in.

She began to run forward and twirled her spear as flame began to cover her left arm. Od in her body to ignite the flames and Mana of the World to keep it burning. Fire was not just her affinity in Magecraft, it was personal to her. It was what made her who she was, what defined her being, and what she would use to kill anything that stood in her way. To bring them the same pain that it had brought her.

With a swing of her arm, her flame became a whip and swiftly lashed out on the first line of familiars in front of her. She then closed the distance, cutting the necks with her spear as the flames floated away her arm and coalesced into a ball above her. The ball shot out spikes, slashes, and pulses, made of flame as it followed above her.

An even larger group began to appear from the nearest corner.

Kyoko thrust her arm forward causing the ball to shoot ahead and explode into their center. The resulting explosion burnt the majority of them while the rest were sent flying in all directions.

The way was clear.

She took a deep breath as she gathered heat under her heels. Heat was created by friction, by atoms and molecules bumping into each other and vibrating as they became more active. Heat then could be used to generate energy which was compressed into those two spots under her feet. She released that energy and rocketed herself forward.

With each step she traversed a great distance. Not as fast as Archer could be, but enough to get her past the remaining familiars.

She called it her Flame Step technique and stuck with that name despite how much Archer called it stupid. Like Triple-Linked Crane Wings or Nine Lives Blade Works was any better. It wasn't like she shouted out her the name of her moves in the middle of a fight anymore. That was just plain stupid and an embarrassing habit that she had picked up when Mami had still trained her. Apparently, the blond Magical Girl still did that, which would've definitely killed the crush Kyoko had had on her if any of those feelings still existed.

Anyway, continuous use of Flame Step was risky due to the high cost and strain on her body even past Reinforcement. Since it couldn't be used continuously for traversal it was instead reserved for quick maneuvering and repositioning as necessary. Useful for catching an enemy off guard with a sudden burst of speed or simply getting out of the way of an incoming attack.

Once she had made sufficient distance from the familiars, she began running normally. It was almost always best to conserve Prana by ignoring the stragglers and heading straight for their source.

After running into a few more dead ends Kyoko finally found a light at the end of the tunnel. Against all common logic she charged straight for it and found herself in a flower field. It was bright, pretty, and something she could almost admire if it wasn't for the giant eyeball plant a short distance away.

The Witch, and it had already claimed a few victims. In front of it were two dissolved corpses and a young girl in green who seemed frozen as she stared at them.

Tch… civilians always made things complicated. When dead they would just feed the witch and make it stronger. When alive they would get in the way or annoy her with their constant screaming. Always expecting to be saved, that they should not have to die, even though the world was never that kind.

Well the corpses couldn't scream, and that girl seemed quiet at least, so Kyoko tossed her a bone. That bone being her spear which skewered several vines that had been trying to grab the kid.

With the Witch's attention now on her, Kyoko Flame Stepped forward and dodged the first few vines sent her way. The rest were immediately cut down by a flame whip at the end of her Step. She jumped into the air, grabbing her spear that was still embedded in ones its vines, and cut it free. Armed properly, she began the mundane yet much necessary work of weed whacking.

Kyoko's spear danced as she chopped apart vine after vine, tearing everything that had tried to grab her to shreds. Soon enough all that was left was the giant eyeball as it struggled to regrow its lost limbs. She would never give it that chance.

With one last charge, she leaped into the air and thrust her spear straight into the center of its eyes. It tried to shake her off, but she stepped on its eyelid and used that as leverage as she thrust her weapon in even deeper. Then as a bit of a finishing touch she channeled flame through the spear and began burning the witch from the inside out.

She continued burning it, even as it thrashed and tried to shake her off, until it was nothing left but a charred-up husk on the floor.

She took a few deep breaths with the job done, but otherwise she hadn't strained herself too much.

It wasn't a particularly strong Witch, just a bit tricky with its territory and familiars. It also helped that her flames were really well suited to burning it down completely. Type advantage, turns out, didn't just apply to Pokemon. Though she had yet to find something that Archer's steel couldn't cut.

Once she caught her breath, Kyoko looked at the two corpses on the ground. Both had been killed recently, but that wasn't something that bothered her.

If people caught in a labyrinth lived because of her then fine, but if they died it was no issue either. No point in risking herself for random strangers. In the end, going out of your way to help people would only just bring you pain.

The world collapsed on itself as the little girl with green hair continued staring at the corpses. They were soon returned to an empty block at the edge of the city, but the girl still wouldn't move.

Kyoko sighed as she picked up the grief seed. Normally she would just leave the survivors alone, but even she had a soft spot for little kids. "Oi brat."

The kid remained silent.

"It's a shame, huh. But that's the way it is… no amount of crying will bring your parents back to life. You survived why don't you give some thanks for your good luck."

The kid still didn't answer.

Hmph. Whatever.

Kyoko took out a lollipop and popped it in her mouth. She then turned around and began to walk away.

Someone would eventually notice a lone child in front of a pair of bloody corpses and get some help. There was nothing else she needed to do, nothing else she wanted to do. This kid would just have to find her own way to live. To move past this… incident that ended up taking away her parents.

This tragedy that left her alone with no one else there to help. No sullen, ever present guardian to save her from the flames.

_Big Sis_

Kyoko hardened her eyes and forced herself to turn around. "With a face like that, no one will come to save you." She walked up to the girl's back and held her lollipop in front of her face.

The girl finally reacted and lifted her head to look up at her.

* * *

Kamihama was… an anomaly. Archer hated having to use the Incubator's words, but that was the best way to describe how strange this city was. Even by Magical Girl standards this place was taking the cake.

It wasn't like this the last time he had been here years ago, yes full of Witches but that was standard for every large city. Now though his nose was getting near overwhelmed by this pervasive sense of the supernatural that seemed to permeate the air. The rumors that spread along the general populace when the existence of Magic was supposed to be a secret certainly didn't help either.

This was going to take more than a few days for him to fully grasp what was happening here, but unfortunately his Independent Action had limits. He had to get back to Kyoko to replenish himself before he could do anymore investigating.

Something was brewing here. It might take some time, a year or two probably if his intuition was to be relied on, but once it did erupt the consequences could be quite catastrophic for the area. It likely wouldn't affect them if they stayed in Kazamino though and losing a couple of Witches to hunt would be fine from a financial standpoint. He could always take up a job again if needed.

The issue was Kyoko. Though she claimed she would live for herself, she was also a reckless and curious person by nature. A very dangerous combination. If he told her what was happening, she would likely pop her head in the city just to satisfy her curiosity.

The last thing he wanted was for her to come here alone. There was the option of bringing her with him, just so that he'd have more time to investigate, but that still meant bringing her into the middle of all this.

Archer jumped from building to building, making his way back to Kazamino.

It might be best to feign ignorance for now. At least for the time being. He should also find something for her to do, a hobby, club, or something else that could catch her interest. Outside of Witch hunting she was becoming increasingly idle. That was not a good thing, especially for her. If she was busy, then she was less likely to get into trouble or explore.

He was likely the first person that had realized that something was strange with the movement of the Witches. It wouldn't take long for the other Magical Girls in the surrounding areas to notice though and track that activity back to the city. However, that was still time that he had to prepare.

He just hoped that it would be enough for him to find a way to keep Kyoko out of it.


	12. Chapter 12

The brat could definitely eat. It was only after devouring her third Taiyaki, did the kid finally begin to slow down. Mostly because she was coughing on the tail end of her last pastry.

"Careful kid," Kyoko said as she handed the girl a can of juice to drink. "Make sure to eat your food properly," she chastised the girl as she drank.

The girl looked down at the top of her can and froze, likely remembering what had just happened to her parents.

Tch… trauma wasn't something that Kyoko was very good with.

"Your parents were killed by a creature called a Witch"

"A Witch…?" the girl asked hesitantly as she turned to her.

"Yes, a Witch. I hunt them for a living."

"What are you?"

"A Magus."

The girl looked confused. "Magus?"

"A magician basically," Kyoko simplified for her. "I use Magecraft to fight."

"… Like a Magical Girl?"

Kyoko shook her head. "I'm not a Magical Girl. They do exist but this isn't like those mangas, there isn't any love, courage, or salvation. Your family is dead, and they aren't coming back. That's why you're on your own from now on. Just you, even for foo-"

"Yuma"

Kyoko looked at the girl. "Hmm?"

"My name is Yuma, not you."

"Cheeky brat," Kyoko replied, though without much bite.

"So, you protect people like me, right? Like a Hero of Justice?"

"No!" Kyoko shouted causing the girl to recoil with wide eyes. "Don't ever say that again," she hissed with her fists were clenched and her body tensed. "Don't ever try to be a Hero of Justice, hell don't even be a regular Hero."

She took several deep breaths and meditated to herself like Archer had taught her in order to steady her emotions. Surprisingly enough though Yuma had seemed calm despite her outrage and stood up in front of her.

"Is being a Hero so bad?" she asked.

"Yes. Heroes don't last long. They either die or have everything taken away from them."

"Well, then maybe I can become a Magical Girl?" she said with some cheer in her step.

"What?"

"I want to be a Magical Girl that fights witches too!"

There was something wrong with this kid. How could she so cheerfully exclaim that she would be a Magical Girl after what just happened to her.

"Don't say stupid crap like that-"

"Then I'll be a Magus. And use ma-"

"Look kid. I'm not taking any apprentices so ju-"

"Papa and mama are dead! I have nowhere to go!" Yuma shouted causing Kyoko to flinch. "How do I become one? I'll do anything."

Once Kyoko collected herself, she simply shook her head and stood up. "You almost died," she said as she walked past Yuma. "Why don't you live a normal life while you still have it."

Kyoko thought that would be the end of it. But then she heard a sniffle behind her.

"But… But… I won't make it alone"

At this point Kyoko could practically hear the pout and tears that were appearing on the brats face. It was enough to get her to stop walking and put her face in her hands. "By the Root damnit," she cursed as she forced herself to turn around and address Yuma. "My name is Kyoko Emiya."

"Kyoko?"

"Yes, and I don't take any lazy idiots. You are going to learn proper Magecraft as a Magus. If you ever start slacking off or stop being useful to me-"

"I won't I'll do my best!" Yuma replied.

"Good. Most important of all though, you are not a Magical Girl and you are definitely not a Hero of Justice. I don't want to hear those words in my house. Agreed?"

Yuma eagerly nodded her head. "Yes!"

"So anyway," Kyoko gestured to the house that she and Archer resided at. "This is home."

She almost chuckled at the awestruck look Yuma had as she took in the entire estate. To be fair, it was an impressive place. The building alone was several times larger than the average house and it was rare to find such a traditional design in the middle of Kazamino. That of course said nothing about the gardens, archery range, built in dojo, and that Koi pond of theirs that was still under construction. The Koi pond might need to be delayed though. It would be best to save up a bit more now that they had an extra mouth to feed.

A mouth that Kyoko would eventually have to tell Archer about upon his inevitable return. That was not going to be a fun conversation…

"Am I… living here too?" Yuma asked once the initial shock wore off.

"Yes," Kyoko replied.

"I-It's so big and cool!" the girl shouted excitedly. "You live like a rich samurai! This is all yours?"

Oh well in for a penny. "There's another person and it's our place. You'll meet him soon enough, but yea you more or less have free range of the place. Just stay out of the wooden shed over there," Kyoko pointed to said shack off in the distance. "Seriously don't go in there. I'm not responsible for what happens to you if you do."

"I won't," Yuma said before running to the front porch and quickly throwing off her shoes.

Kyoko quickly followed and gave her a tour of the house. Once they were done the girl's stomach had started growling again, so she brought her to the kitchen where they ate. Thankfully Archer had kept true to his promise of stocking the fridge with at least a week's worth of food, so there was plenty extra for the two of them.

It didn't take very long for both their plates to get emptied either, though there still little bits of bell peppers left on Yuma's plate by the time Kyoko had finished. These scraps were then pushed aside by Yuma as she pushed her plate towards Kyoko.

"I'm done."

Kyoko gave the girl a glare. Nothing too tough, but enough that Yuma would know she meant business. "Hey," Kyoko said firmly as Yuma looked up. "Rule One. We do not waste food. You eat everything that's on your plate."

Yuma grimaced and looked down at her plate. She looked back to Kyoko who refused to budge.

"You live in this house you follow the rules. Unless you want renegotiate our agreement."

Yuma gulped before picking up the scraps with her fork and shoving some of them into her mouth. The resulting face the girl made could've made one hell of picture. She kept going though and soon enough the plate was cleared.

"I finished!" Yuma said, practically gleaming at her.

Kyoko couldn't help but let out a little smile at that. "Yea, good job." She stood up and petted Yuma's head before taking the plates to the kitchen sink to be washed. "Don't ever take food for granted alright. You'll never know where or when you'll be able to get your next meal," Kyoko said as she dried her hands.

"I won't. Are there any other rules I need to know?" Yuma asked. She was an eager girl. Kyoko could work with that.

"Yes," Kyoko replied as she sat back down at the dining table. "Rule Two. Do not ever mess with the kitchen not unless you get Archer's permission." Kyoko crossed her arms. "He's the other person that lives here and messing with his kitchen is almost as bad as going into his shed."

"Is Archer your papa?" Yuma asked.

"He's… a guardian and my mentor. He took care of me, so you treat him with the same respect you give me."

Yuma nodded.

"Rule Three. You do not talk about the existence of Magic to anyone."

"Anyone?"

"No one. Regular people can't know about the existence of magic or Witches."

"What about a Magus or a Magical Girl?" Yuma asked.

"If you find someone that does know about magic then don't say a damn thing. Just run and get away as soon as you can."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Yes. Or stupid. Or both. They ain't the most dangerous thing out there though."

"The Witches?" Yuma asked.

Kyoko shook her head. "No. There's this white cat with bunny ears and golden hoop earrings that might show up. If you see it, kill it."

Yuma tilted her head. "Kill it?"

"Stab it. Punch it. Throw it in front of a bus. Just don't let it talk to you and get back to me as soon as you can." Kyoko noticed the shocked look on Yuma's face and sighed. "This thing actually has a lot of bodies. Too many to count. It doesn't feel pain either, so you don't have to feel bad about hurting it. If anything, the most you can do is inconvenience it. I just find that its decent stress relief when it does show up."

"Why do you… keep trying to kill it then? Did it do something bad?"

Kyoko clenched her fist. "There's a good chance it'll show up to ask you for a contract to be Magical Girl. Don't ever accept it. If you do, I'm kicking you back on the streets."

She had expected Yuma to be afraid but the extreme degree of fear on the girl's face had caught Kyoko off guard.

"I-I won't. Please don't make me leave," Yuma practically begged. Well, at least it wasn't likely she'd contract. The girl probably needed some serious therapy though.

"Power always comes at a cost. If anything, out there ever offers you power, know that it is never free. Kyoko continued. "To be a Magus on the other hand is to walk with death. We are constantly striving, paying the price in time, effort, and resolve in order to acquire the power we desire." She could only hope that she sounded at least as half as imposing as Archer did whenever he went on another lecture about Magecraft. "There are no shortcuts on this path for it is one that we have to pave ourselves."

Yuma stared at her in awe. "So, you became this strong by yourself?"

"Uh… yes... sorta. Archer helped a little. Kinda need another Magus to teach you the basics, but once you get that down you'll be allowed to take up whatever field of research you want."

"Can I learn to fight?"

"Eventually." Not any time soon though if Kyoko had anything to say about it.

"How long is that?" Yuma asked.

"Whenever we feel you're ready," Kyoko replied.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Yuma, you're starting from scratch. Don't know how quickly you'll learn or pick things up, but we aren't rushing this. Give me a few weeks to see how well you're doing before I tell you. Alright?"

"Okaaay," Yuma replied, disappointed.

"Good," Kyoko leaned over and gave Yuma a quick sniff. "We need to get you a bath."

* * *

After filling up the bath, Kyoko dragged Yuma to the changing room where they began to take off their clothes. She then took the time to look at Yuma's body after the girl had completely stripped.

Damn. No wonder the girl ate some much. She was practically skin and bones and needed some serious fattening up. Did her parents not feed her much before they got offed? Had they been poor like Kyoko's family had been?

"You're pretty!" Yuma exclaimed

Kyoko had to stop the urge to bashfully cover her own chest. Apparently, she hadn't been the only one to do some looking.

"Thanks."

Kyoko didn't put that much effort in her own appearance, but she knew that her active lifestyle of training and fighting Witches had given her a nice figure. She was attractive. A good catch. Could use a bit more development in the chest area but that was her only complaint. It was never much of an issue anyway if the looks that the boys, and a few girls, at her school had given her. Most of them were too shy to say anything to her though and the few that did couldn't stop stuttering after she had gotten a bit tough on them.

She didn't have anything against them, they were all hormonal teenagers after all. But seriously, how could they possibly think about going out with her if they couldn't handle her being a bit rough? Being a timid girl wasn't an excuse, though it wasn't like most of the boys were much better either. Seriously, you'd think the gender with biologically more muscle mass would have actual spines to support all that meat.

They stepped into the bathroom and Kyoko almost chuckled at the look of awe on Yuma's face. That face kept popping up ever since the girl had been brought here and it never got boring

"Your bath is so big!"

Kyoko grabbed Yuma by the shoulder before she could make a break for the tub. "Wash up first."

"Okay!" Yuma sat down on a stool. She tried to reach for the shampoo bottle only for Kyoko to grab it first and sit behind her.

Kyoko squirted some shampoo into her hands began to scrub Yuma's hair. It just felt natural to do this.

"Am I too rough?" Kyoko asked.

"No. You're really good at this," Yuma replied cheerfully with her eyes closed. "Did you do this before?"

Kyoko remained silent as she lifted up the girl's bangs to get to her hairline. She immediately stopped what she was doing.

Burn wounds. Cigarettes. Definitely not from a Witch.

Yuma went deathly still.

"Your parents?" Kyoko asked.

Yuma began trembling.

Kyoko sighed before pushing the bangs back down and continuing to wash Yuma's hair. She made sure to be a bit gentler this time though. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

God knows how much she didn't talk about the things that happened to her. Apart from Archer, but it was hard to hide things from your guardian with whom you had a mental connection with.

Any of the previous excitement that Yuma had shown was now gone though and they finished the rest of their bath in silence.

Once they finished Kyoko got Yuma an old T shirt to wear and they made their way to the guest bedroom. There were several of them actually, but they were usually empty. Kyoko opened the door for Yuma and was about to walk away when she noticed that the girl remained hesitant in front of the open doorway.

"I'm not judging you," Kyoko told her as she walked back up to her. "You don't have to be afraid of them anymore."

Yuma nodded. She looked down at the floor and remained silent for a long time.

Kyoko was about to take Yuma by the hand and help lead her to her bed when she finally spoke. "I… didn't actually love papa and mama," Yuma said while looking at the wall. "They argued all the time and papa was almost never home. And Mama was mean to Yuma. She said papa didn't return, that papa went out to play because Yuma was a bad girl." The girl put her hands on her forehead, where the scars seemed to be the worst. "She was very, very mean."

Kyoko grimaced and closed her eyes. Of course, that had to have happened to this little girl. The world wasn't merciful, even to the children. It would take a miracle from the Root to change that. "You had it rough… but well… betrayal by your parents isn't something I'm unfamiliar with."

Yuma shivered and looked up at her.

"We're similar in that regard," Kyoko admitted. "It's why I live with Archer now."

Yuma gripped the sides of her shirt and trembled. "I. I… I want to become strong! Kyoko, why do you fight witches."

"Because I'm good at it… and it makes good money."

"You're strong because you're a Magus? You'll help make me a Magus right?" Desperation. Pure and utter desperation as if she had seen her salvation dangled in front of her, just out of reach. This was the look that Yuma was giving her now. It was enough to cause Kyoko to take a step back. "Yuma is weak. I don't have anything because I'm weak. You'll help me be strong, won't you!?"

"I already told you I would," Kyoko replied with widened eyes. Yuma was unhinged, manic. It shouldn't have been such a shock, Kyoko had seen signs of the girls instability earlier that night, but it had still taken her completely off guard.

"Do you have friends?" Somehow the girl looked even more unhinged. "What about school? Are there other Mages or Magical Girls you know?"

"Hey, one thing at a time-"

"I want that. I want all of those things. Will I be able to get them if I get strong?" Yuma took a step forward. It took all of Kyoko's will not to step back in response. "Tell me what I have to do! Tell me what I need to do to be strong!"

"Yuma-"

"I won't become a Magical Girl. So don't make me leave! Just let me stay! Let me-"

"YUMA!"

Yuma froze and finally went silent.

Kyoko panted as she calmed herself down after her outburst. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds, knew what she had to do. She took a few slow steps, making sure not to scare the girl off, before kneeling down and enveloping the girl in her arms.

It only took a brief moment for Yuma to grab her in turn and sob into her chest.

This had not been part of Kyoko's plans. She had wanted to keep Yuma at some distance, but damn it if the girl didn't need a hug at that moment. She was messed up, they both were, and it was why she could understand her a little. It was why she knew that Yuma was desperate to grab onto something, anything. If Kyoko could be that thing… well it wouldn't be so bad. "I promise that I would teach you. I'm not going to break it alright."

"Y-you won't?" Yuma stammered.

"I won't," Kyoko replied before holding her even more tightly.

This was a mistake. She shouldn't be doing this, letting herself open up like that. It was a reminder of what she had already lost, it would just lead to more pain.

Kyoko knew all this, but she still wouldn't let go. Oh god. Archer really was going to let her have it once he saw this.

"Are you alright now?" Kyoko let go and asked Yuma a few minutes later.

Yuma's eyes were bloodshot and she was still sniffling a little, but otherwise had stopped sobbing. "I-I will."

"Alright then." Kyoko scratched her head. "Good night." Before she could walk away though she felt a gentle tug on the edge of her shirt

Yuma looked up to her with pleading eyes. "C-could I sleep with you? Please?"

"… Yea. That's fine."

* * *

Homura opened her eyes, her last memory was the image of a monster laying destruction to what remained of Mitakihara.

Kriemhild Gretchen. Madoka's Witch. A Witch… the fate of every girl that had contracted, including her.

Kyubey had deceived them. Tricked them into believing that they, no Madoka was doing good, only to trample on that faith. To let them become the very monsters that they sought to destroy.

She sat up and gripped her blankets tightly. Tears began to appear at the corners of her eyes.

It wasn't fair. Madoka didn't deserve this. Not such a kind and selfless girl. Not someone who'd go out of their way to save and befriend someone as pathetic as Homura was.

Homura needed to tell her, warn her of what was going to happen to her. Madoka would definitely believe her, wouldn't she? So, would everyone else. They were friends. Weren't they?

No… they weren't. Not yet.

At this point she was essentially a stranger to every one of them, including Madoka. It wouldn't be a good idea to make the same mistakes as her first foray into the past. Suddenly walking up into Madoka on her first day of school to declare her friendship and status as a Magical Girl in front of their entire class probably hadn't been one of her brightest decisions. It was actually really embarrassing once she had the time to look back at it.

Time to look back… Well she certainly had plenty of that now.

Homura looked at her Soul Gem. The ability to turn back time, all so that she could be the one to protect Madoka. And yet it still hadn't been enough…

Homura got up from her bed and made her to the bathroom to wash her face. She tightened the ribbons on her hair, making sure that her twin tails were firmly in place. She wouldn't fail, not again. This time she would be the one to protect Madoka.


	13. Chapter 13

"Kyoko?" Archer asked, his hand still pinching the area between his eyes.

"Yes Archer?"

Archer pointed to the little green haired girl currently snacking on Pocky in their living room. They spoke low enough so that she couldn't hear them. "What is that?"

"A pet I picked up."

"A pet…"

"Yes," Kyoko nodded seriously. "She's a very eager girl." Shetried not to show her anxiety as the stood in the hallway. She was probably failing at that to be honest; he was way too perceptive for her to trick him. Really, nothing could've prepared her for the conversation she would have to have with him now that he was home.

Archer took a deep breath before putting a hand to his face. "I knew you were far gone, but to think you'd go as far as pedophilia."

"Hey!" Kyoko shouted at that accusation. She glanced back at the girl who was looking at them curiously from the living room. A quick spell was all it took to make sure she couldn't overhear them. "I didn't kidnap her. I just gave her some… candy and sweets… and invited her back to my home…"

Wow, it actually did look pretty bad once she said it out loud.

"How long before the cops come?" Archer asked.

"No one's going to call."

"You left no witnesses? Good."

"Jesus, Archer! What are you…" Kyoko squinted her eyes. "You're screwing with me again. Aren't you?"

Archer let out a brief smirk. "Careful. You're learning."

Kyoko huffed. "Anyway, I saved the kid from a Witch-"

"You went hunting again without me," he stated plainly.

"And that Witch ended up killing her parents. She's got no family left… Not that they were any good for her in the first."

Archer's expression softened. A kid with a bunch of dead parents who she had issues with. Of course, they could relate. "So, you brought this kid here, instead of bringing her to the proper authorities?"

"I mean, she kind of begged me to teach her Magic."

"What?"

Kyoko nervously scratched her head. "I might've promised her that I'd teach her Magecraft."

Archer was back to covering his face with his hand. "That's almost impossible."

"What do you mean? She wasn't affected by a Witch's kiss, so she has potential! Probably."

"Potential for a Magical Girl contract does not necessarily mean you are capable of Magecraft and vice versa. Did you at least check her for Magical Circuits? What if she has none to draw from?"

"Oh…" That wasn't something she had really considered. "Well aren't there ways to get around that?"

"Theoretically we could extract a Magical Circuit from another Magus and implant it into her-"

"Like your father did for you?"

"But a single circuit, even one of yours or mine, isn't going to be enough apart from a few parlor tricks. We could teach her to turn her nerves into Magical Circuits-"

"Like you did."

"But it's also borderline suicide. She's more likely to burn herself up from the inside out."

"Okay, maybe we don't teach her that but there has to be a way. You're a pretty decent Magus now, aren't you?" Kyoko argued.

"I still had Magical Circuits, even if they were latent. Also, my Element and Origin is Sword. Something so irregular that it would've gotten me a Sealing Designation if word had gotten out to the Clocktower of my world. That allowed me to highly specialize in a select few fields of Magecraft, otherwise I'm a completely hopeless Mage. Is that girl-"

"Yuma."

"Is Yuma like that?"

Kyoko glanced back at Yuma who had turned on the TV and was smiling at some sort of children's cartoon. "Probably not no."

"Then no matter how much we teach her and no matter hard she works, it's likely that she'll never get far as a Mage apart from a few parlor tricks."

"Maybe she'll be happy with that? It's not like she has much competition on the Mage front."

Archer crossed his arms. "To be a Magus is to walk with death. You must always be prepared to die for your craft, to cast aside your humanity for the sake of something greater than yourself. She was saved by a Mage and you encouraged her to follow that path. Do you think she'll ever be satisfied with a few tricks?

"No…" Kyoko admitted.

"And are you prepared to take responsibility for her? Not as a Mage, but as a human being. Her parents were killed but she would still have records in this city. Birth certificates, hospital records, school registrars, she would need an entirely different identity if she was going to live with you. You'd need to give her a new name, new life, away from anyone that might recognize her. Kazamino isn't that big, can you guarantee you'll be able to hide her?"

Kyoko remained silent.

"To help others is to cause yourself pain," Archer continued. "Those were your own words. In exchange for giving Yuma a new life, are you willing to sacrifice yourself for her? If you don't, then you don't have to the right to raise her."

"I promised the kid I'd teach her," Kyoko replied.

"So. Are you prepared to sacrifice yourself for her?"

"No," Kyoko almost scoffed. "That's the only promise I made. And I ain't sacrificing anything if she proves to be useful. I could use an assistant."

"Kyoko. You and I both know you're not the type to get an assistant. This is about something else. Someone that she reminds you of."

Kyoko bit back a curse. "So what?"

"Momo's dead."

"I know that." She clenched her fists. "I was there with the body."

"You'll never be able to replace her."

Kyoko sighed. "It's messed up. I'm messed up, but… this kid has no family now, and honestly even when they were alive, they were shit."

"She has suffered a lot," Archer admitted. "Especially for one so young."

"She's like me… or what I could've been like without any help." Naïve and hopeless. Nothing to hold onto or acknowledge. Nothing that could be called real. That was the life she could've lived without Archer. A life that Yuma would likely go through right now… if she even lived past a few days on the streets. "And it isn't even her fault."

"The world is cruel," Archer replied.

"I know. It's just that I do stupid shit and I have you bailing me out. She doesn't do anything wrong and she gets screwed anyway. I just want to be there, even if the world trying to do its best to screw her over. Like it always does."

"So, this is you trying to lash out against this world. Trying to fight against reality, even though you said you would accept it?"

Kyoko chuckled somberly. "Yea. I guess that makes me a huge hypocrite. Doesn't it?"

Archer grunted before crossing his arms. "You and I are probably the largest pair of hypocrites in this world. It doesn't change the fact that we are resolved to live the way we want; ideals and logic be damned."

Well when he put it like that. "So will you…?"

"I'll accept it for now. I'll help train her also but she's your responsibility in the end. She is going to need you here. Now. You can't waste your time running off to Root knows where, finding trouble."

"I don't-"

Archer glared at her.

"Okay maybe I do," Kyoko looked back to Yuma. "I'll try to be careful now though. I can't get myself killed after making a promise to her."

Archer smiled. "Good."

Kyoko made her way to the living room and sat down across from Yuma. Now that she had gotten Archer to agree she now had to lay down the rule of law in the household. And also prepare on offering to whatever deity had helped her perform the miracle on convincing him. Was there a Shinto shrine nearby that she could visit?

* * *

Madoka woke up. She found herself hugging her large bunny plush tightly, her drool having spilled all over its face. The mess didn't really matter to her though, what mattered was the dream that she had awoken from.

A dream of a girl with beautiful long black hair staring into the abyss. A girl who fought a hopeless battle never allowing herself to blink. For if she did, that too would consume her.

It was so vivid, the pictures of that girl standing resolute yet worn down in her mind, yet there was something else about that the dream that she didn't recall.

Did she want to remember though? Was she strong enough to bear whatever it was that this girl was fighting? A girl who ought to have been a complete stranger yet seemed so eerily familiar to her?

"Meow."

Madoka smiled as she looked down at the small black cat greeting her at the other end of the bed. She reached over and rubbed Amy's head. It purred in pleasure.

She was quite fortunate that her parents had let her pick a stray from off the street, even one that she had talked about before with her parents. She couldn't have helped it though, after its near-death experience with a car she couldn't leave it alone. That fact that it suddenly seemed more than willing to be with her despite spending its life on its street was even more incentive to keep it.

Thankfully Mama was more than willing to hear her out and let her keep Amy as a pet.

Honestly it was more of a miracle that Amy had even survived in the first place. One moment it was in the middle of a street with a car speeding just feet away from it and then it was suddenly on the sidewalk next to her. It had taken her a few moments of stunned blinking to even try and process what had happened. Even Amy had been about as surprised as a cat possibly could looked at the time.

A miracle had been performed that day, but neither of them quite knew how or why it had happened.

Madoka giggled as Amy licked her hand and made its way to sit on her lap. She had to push it away gently though.

She had school and someone had to wake up Mama after all. She couldn't help but let out a little mischievous smirk at the thought. It was quite uncharacteristic of her, but well it was surprisingly fun. Especially when her brother got involved too.

* * *

"Good morning!" Madoka shouted as she quickly ran up to her friends who had been waiting for her.

"Good morning!" Hitomi replied.

"Madoka, you're late!" Sayaka looked at Madoka's hair. "Oh! Cute ribbons."

"You think so?" Madoka asked. "They're not too flashy?"

"Meow."

The three girls turned toward Amy who had followed Madoka as usual.

"See even Amy agrees," Sayaka said as she knelt down to pet the cat. "Good job keeping an eye on Madoka here. Who knows what sort of troubles she'd get into if it wasn't for you."

"Sayaka!"

Sayaka turned to Madoka with an all too pleased expression on her face. "Come on Madoka. You're a nice person, but that just means that people take advantage of you."

Madoka blushed having been reminded of the times that Sayaka had to protect her in their youth. She didn't regret the way she had acted, even to people that might've tried to bully her, but she was grateful that Sayaka had been there to protect her. It didn't happen so much nowadays, but the memory was still enough that Madoka would often confide in Sayaka first whenever something bothered her.

"I have to agree with Sayaka," Hitomi commented. "Sometimes I can't help but worry about you too."

Madoka huffed. "Hitomi! I'm a big girl now. I can handle myself." Unfortunately, judging by the smiles they gave her, they didn't take her that seriously. Not that she was being very serious herself, but even she could be annoyed sometimes. Annoyed enough that she wouldn't even tell them about that strange dream they had. The last thing she needed was for them to call her out on some sort of soulmate that she had never met before.

"Oh, is that way you changed your ribbons," Sayaka said playfully. "Trying to become a mature woman like Hitomi. Going for all the boys."

"No, that's not-"

"How shameless!" Sayaka opened up her arms. "Let me show you what happens to girls like you."

After Madoka failed to escape Sayaka's embrace and claim on her as a bride, the three of them- sans Amy who would go home by itself now that it had finished escorting its owner- made the rest of the way to school.

For the most part the morning had been normal. Pleasant, but normal. Even Ms. Saotame's rant about never dating men who insist they can't eat fried eggs done over hard was common course for their mornings. At least it was until their teacher suddenly announced that they would have a new transfer student.

For some reason, Madoka half expected a raven locked girl with gloriously smooth and luscious hair to walk into the classroom. Her eyes went wide when she actually did get that.

"No way… It couldn't be…"

There were some differences. This girl had her hair wrapped in two large pigtails and her posture was less graceful and a bit nervous. Still, the resemblance was uncanny, especially what laid behind the eyeglasses she wore. Her eyes were mesmerizing… with a sort of determination that you wouldn't expect from a girl their age.

Things got even more confusing when said transfer student, who by all rights Madoka should never have met before, shot her a look of recognition. It had taken Madoka a bit to confirm that it was her that the transfer student was looking at and not a neighbor or someone behind her.

"My name is Homura Akemi." The transfer took a deep breath. "I'm pleased to meet all of you." Her voice past her nervousness was surprisingly strong and clear.

Then why did Madoka expect her to say all of that with a detached confidence? Why did she expect her to act aloof, almost a bit cold to the class? It was strange, and it couldn't just have been from the girl in the dreams. They were nothing alike.

Long black hair and a headband. The same faces yet also so different.

After introductions, Madoka was simply too distracted with her own thoughts to listen much to class. The way that Homura was constantly shooting her glances wasn't helping either.

"You alright there Madoka?" Sayaka asked during a break between classes. As always was the first one to notice that something was bothering her. She glanced at Homura in turn. "Do you know that girl? She seemed to be staring at you a lot earlier."

"I… maybe?" Madoka replied. "She seems so familiar… like…"

"Deja-vu?"

"No something else…" Madoka mulled

"Excuse me."

Madoka looked up to find Homura in front of her desk. "K-Kaname," the girl finally stuttered. Any confidence she might've had in front of the class seemed to have faded away the second she walked up to Madoka. "Are you the Nurse's Aide?"

"I am?" Madoka replied a bit confused.

"Uh…" Homura looked down on the floor and grasped her hands. "It been a bit stressful for me today and…"

Cute.

"I'm sorry?" Homura asked.

"Eep," Madoka let out before clamping her mouth shut. She had definitely not meant to say that out loud.

At this point a smile had grown on Sayaka's face as she looked between Madoka and the transfer student. "Oh, so that's what this is. My little Madoka's grown up."

"Sayaka?" Madoka asked.

"Miki?" Homura asked.

"Huh how'd you know my name?" Sayaka asked.

"I uh… remembered it after reading the class roster," Homura replied.

"Oh okay." Sayaka held her hand out. "Anyway, I'm Sayaka Miki. Madoka's groom to be. Please take care of her."

"Sayaka!"

"G-groom!?" For some reason Homura looked absolutely horrified.

"She's just joking around," Madoka told Homura before shooting Sayaka the best glare that she could muster. "Which isn't very nice."

"Ah Madoka, I'm just playing around," Sayaka replied without an ounce of guilt on her face before turning to Homura. "Anyway, I was serious about taking care of her. She's important to me, but I'm sure you can handle it."

"Uh... okay." This time it was Homura's turn to blush.

"So," Madoka said before an awkward silence could take form. "You were feeling stressed."

"Y-yes," Homura replied, clearly relieved at having an escape. "Kaname. Could you please escort me to the nurse's office."

Madoka tried to give Homura the best smile she could.. "I'll be… happy to. And please call me Madoka."

* * *

Homura had fit in nicely with their group. Her reserved nature paired well with Hitomi and she had apparently received Sayaka's seal of approval.

For Madoka, it was nice to be around her. Not just because they had another person to add to their group, but because Homura seemed almost familiar to her. As if they were meant to become friends. And judging by the way Homura seemed to smile around her, she also felt the same.

"What do you think about Homura?" Madoka asked as they made their way home.

"Meow," Amy replied.

Madoka shook her head and gave it a weary smile.

Her cat, though a great escort, was unfortunately not much of a conversationalist. Despite how fun it was with Homura, there was still something that bothered her about the situation. It likely was nothing. She was probably just being paranoid and the last thing she needed was for Sayaka to get overprotective over a gut feeling that she had. Still, she couldn't get that dream out of her head. Even now she could remember it quite vividly.

Madoka stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the signal to change, when Amy suddenly turned left and continue going down the block.

"Amy?"

For the last few weeks, the cat had been a dedicated escort for Madoka and never went off the beaten path. What had changed?

"Meow." Amy turned back and sat down some distance away, as if it was expecting her to follow.

Madoka simply stared at her cat in confusion before it decided to get up and continue walking away.

"Amy! Wait!" she shouted as she followed her. Once she started moving in its direction though it suddenly picked up speed. Soon Madoka was sprinting after a black cat, much to the curious and confused looks of the few bystanders that had happened to be in their path.

"Slow… down," Madoka gasped as she tried to catch her breath. She was hardly the most athletic person and her cat was giving the toughest run of her life.

Eventually Amy turned around a corner into a nearby alleyway. Madoka followed only to find that her cat had finally stopped running. It now sat in front a white feather on the floor.

"Did you want that feather?" Madoka asked.

Amy replied by patting a paw next to said object, as if gesturing her to pick it up.

Ok. Madoka knew that Amy was a smart cat, but this was starting to get weird.

Madoka cautiously walked forward. She was a bit tense at first, but that soon faded away as she got closer to that feather's presence. She didn't know why, but it was as if it was calling to her. It brought her over with a sound that only she could hear until she stood in front of it.

It was pretty. A brilliant white with shades of pink. She didn't know where it came from, but it definitely didn't come from a bird. In fact. it seemed almost… unnatural.

Madoka kneeled down on the ground. She carefully brought her hand over and hesitated just inches away from the tip.

She was afraid. There was a part of her that didn't want to touch it, even as her soul practically screamed at her to do so.

Did she want this? Was this really, what she wanted?

Amy suddenly reached over with a paw and gently pushed her hand down.

"Meow."

Madoka brushed the tip of the feather and then gently grabbed it off the ground. She looked at it carefully before tenderly holding it to her chest. It was warm… and comforting. It was nostalgic, as if she was meant to have it. As if it was always meant to be a part of her.

A gentle light enveloped her body for a brief moment before vanishing. It had all happened in a second and Madoka looked down to find that the feather had disappeared from her hand. She wasn't sad that it was gone though, she felt wonderful actually. She hadn't felt this good since the day her parents had first brough Tatsuya home.

"Meow." Amy walked up and rubbed itself against her leg.

Madoka smiled and petted her cat. "You really are a smart kitty, aren't you?" She didn't entirely know what had happened or why it had to be her, but it felt like it was supposed to happen. "Let's go home before Mama and Papa worry."

It wasn't long before that wonderful feeling faded. Leaving behind nothing else but a fond, yet somehow, distant memory. There was a light spring to her step as she walked home though.


	14. Chapter 14

A Goddess stood in the expanse of the universe. Her white dress and long pink hair flowed with a nonexistent wind as she drew her bow.

She hated conflict, much less that was brought by her own hands, but she was resolved to see her purpose fulfilled.

Her arrow ready, she pointed it at the enemy in front of her.

The curses, the hatred, the despair of the entire world. She would shoulder it all, accept it and bring salvation. For she was the Law of-

* * *

Madoka's eyes shot open and she quickly sprang up from bed. Her hands still ready to use her bow. She panted, caught her breath, and finally began to process that she was in her home. There was no target for her to shoot at, just her bedroom wall. She relaxed her arm and let the arrow go slack.

Wait. Arrow?

She looked down and let loose a squeal. She was holding a bow. A wooden bow with a blooming pink flower on top of it. An actual bow meant to shoot an arrow of pink light that she was holding in her hands.

She gently released the arrow from her grip. It disappeared before into several motes of pink light even had a chance to land on her bed. She tried the same with the bow and got the same results.

So. She apparently now had the ability to create magic bow and arrows with her bare hands. Neat. And apparently easy to get rid of too.

That was a good thing. The door to Madoka's room opened just as the last of the light faded.

"Madoka!" her Papa shouted as he charged into her a room, his cooking pan still held in his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing Papa," she shot a quick glance to her bed and made sure that there was no trace of that bow she held in her hands. "I just had a weird dream."

Her father lowered the pan. "A nightmare?"

Madoka glanced at Amy who sat at the foot of her bed. "Meow," it said calmly.

"No… it wasn't that bad actually," Madoka replied.

"If there's bothering you Madoka-"

"I'm fine now Papa," Madoka gave him a gentle smile. "I just need a bit more sleep." Thankfully it was Sunday, so it was a good enough excuse.

"Ok then." Her Papa closed the joy gently. "Sweet dreams sweetie."

Madoka waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps holding out her hands. It only took a few seconds before the bow answered her call and reappeared in her hands. Summoning it was much easier than she had expected.

She brought it closer to examine it. It was beautiful, pretty, and it fit so easily into her hands. It was meant for her, made to be used by her, though against what she wasn't entirely sure.

She wanted to test it out by trying to create another arrow but firing a deadly projectile in her house probably wasn't the best idea. No matter how much Amy seemed to be encouraging her to do so with its expectant gaze.

* * *

Madoka smiled gently as she watched a group of children play in the park, their parents nearby keeping a constant and happy vigil. It wouldn't long until Tatsuya was one of those kids, running on his own and playing with his friends.

Those smiles… they really were precious.

She looked down at her hands.

First that feather. Now a bow appearing in her hands out of nowhere. It was just so strange. Why was this happening to her? She was supposed to be a normal girl. And now she was summoning deadly weapons out of her bare hands.

She really needed to talk to a friend, but it was Sunday. There was no school and Hitomi and Sayaka were both busy doing things with their families.

"What do you think Amy? You're the one who brought me to that feather," Madoka asked her cat.

"Meow," it replied once again.

Madoka sighed. She really needed to learn how to speak cat. Or somehow convince her Mama to have her company invent some sort of cat translating device. Either one.

"M-Madoka?"

Madoka looked up. "Homura?"

Homura was dressed in a white blouse and a grey plaided skirt. It was simple but cute and matched well with her hair and glasses.

"What are you doing here?" Homura asked.

"Oh, I was just… taking a walk. Ended up here." Madoka moved aside to make room for Homura on the bench. "Keep me company"

"Are you sure?"

"You're my friend," Madoka answered quickly

"Meow."

"Amy's too!"

Homura blushed before taking a seat next to Madoka. She kept shooting glances at Amy for some reason.

Was she afraid of cats? She had been shocked to meet Amy yesterday when the cat had come to pick Madoka up from school.

"The other day… I forgot to say that you have a very pretty cat," Homura commented.

"Thank you."

"How did the two of you meet?"

"Amy was a stray. I saw her sometimes." Madoka began to pet her cat. "We didn't start living together though until her accident."

"Accident?" Homura looked worried. "How is Amy fine then? You didn't make your w-" she clamped her mouth shut.

"Uh… are you alright?"

Homura nodded vigorously before letting go of her mouth. "Sorry… I was just surprised that Amy seems perfectly healthy after her… accident."

"Well, she didn't get hurt in the first place. One second she was in the middle of the street about to be run over by a car and then," Madoka raised her hands and made a light poofing motion, "She's suddenly in front of me."

"Did she dodge it?"

"Didn't even see her move at all. It was like she teleported. Amy looked pretty surprised by that too. It was like magic."

"Not mine though," Homura muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Well anyway," Madoka continued. "I was so happy that Amy was safe that I just carried her home with me. She didn't seem to mind."

"Meow." Amy suddenly jumped onto Madoka's lap and laid down on it.

"I think she appreciates you," Homura said, a light smiling showing on her face.

"I'm lucky to have her," Madoka replied. "I don't know why she chose me though. She was always so aloof with everyone before"

"I think it because it senses how kind you are."

Madoka blushed lightly at the compliment. "I'm just a normal person."

"No. You're incredibly kind. Willing to go out of her way to help a transfer student like me."

"You were the one who came to me," Madoka replied.

"And you accepted me. Let me join your group. You are so incredibly kind… and much stronger than you think," Homura whispered.

"T-thank you." Now it was Madoka's turn to stutter. It was the first time someone that wasn't Sayaka or her mother complimented her like that. It was nice. It was also at that moment that Madoka realized that she had a friend she could talk to right in front of her. "Hey Homura. There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"Could we go somewhere a bit more private?"

"Uh… my apartment's close by. But it might be too-"

"That sounds perfect. I'd be happy to visit your home!" Those words caught even Madoka off guard. When had she become that assertive?

"Um… sure," Homura replied hesitantly.

"If you don't want to…" Madoka immediately backpedaled. She probably pushed too much into her friend's boundaries.

"No! It's fine. I'd be happy to bring you to my home."

* * *

"Could you… give me a moment before I let you in?" Homura asked. They stood in front of a plain black door within a large apartment complex.

Madoka clasped her hands behind her back. "That's fine." She probably just wanted to clean up or something.

"Thank you," Homura opened her door, stepped inside, and closed it before Madoka could take a peek into her apartment. It was only a few seconds though before the door opened and her head popped out. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

"That was fast," Madoka commented. "What did you do?"

"I just had to put some things away."

Madoka stepped inside to find it so incredibly… bare. There really wasn't much furniture at all apart from the basic necessities.

"Sorry it's so bland," Homura apologized.

"No. It isn't. It's just…" Madoka glanced around that apartment. "Is it just you here?"

"Yes."

"What about your parents?"

Homura looked at the floor. "They're not here anymore."

It was difficult for Madoka to not shed a few tears at that moment. Just the thought of Homura alone in this apartment. "I'm sorry."

"Madoka," Homura raised a hand, but stopped just short of grabbing her shoulder. "It's fine you don't need to cry for me."

"But…" Madoka sniffled.

"It's been a long time and I've gotten used to it."

"Aren't you lonely though? Transferring to a new school with no family?"

"I-I…" Homura brought her head up and looked at Madoka in the eyes. "I'm not. Thanks to you."

Walking up and hugging Homura at the moment just felt natural, even though it was first time they had ever done it. It was nice and warm, different from the hugs she had received from Sayaka. And judging by how Homura reciprocated it after her surprise wore off, she liked it too.

"Even though everything's so different now you're still her for me," Homura said fondly. Her words were a bit strange, but Madoka had more or less gotten used to her occasional eccentricities.

Madoka let go and gave Homura a bright smile. "Do you want to come over to my place tonight for dinner?"

"I'd like that," Homura replied before she suddenly perked up. "Wasn't there something you wanted to show me."

"Oh yea." Madoka fiddled with her hands and took another look around the apartment even though she knew it was just the two of them. "Could you keep this a secret. I'm still trying to figure things out."

"I will. What is it?"

Madoka raised her hand out, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Drawing from something from somewhere, maybe her soul or something, she summoned her bow and held in her hands. She opened her eyes and found Homura staring at her.

That, Madoka had expected. What she didn't predict though was the abject fear in Homura's gaze as focused on the bow. That, caught Madoka off guard.

"W-why. I thought you didn't make a contract, thought that you wouldn't-," Homura's eyes went up and down. "But why didn't your outfit change?"

"Is it supposed to?" Madoka asked looked at her own clothes, currently self-conscious of the fact that they were pretty plain. "Do you know something about this?"

"Did you… not make a contract with Kyubey?" Homura asked.

Madoka tilted her head. "Contract? Kyubey? Who's that?"

Homura held her hand out. Suddenly her ring flashed. A pretty yet strange purple gemstone came out of it. She then turned her hand over and let the newly appeared gemstone rest in her palm. "This is a Soul Gem. It allows a Magical Girl to transform."

"Magical... Girl?" Madoka asked. Sayaka would definitely comment that that sounded like something straight out of an anime if she were here. And also call Homura crazy for that matter. Homura didn't seem crazy though, it was just a bit hard to believe.

Or at least it was until Homura was enveloped in a flash of light and her outfit suddenly changed into a white coat and a light purple skirt. Strapped to her arm was a strange mechanical shield.

It took a few seconds for the reality of the situation to hit her

"Y-you're a Magical Girl. Magical Girls are real. Magic is real," Madoka said to herself. And once reality hit her, it hit her hard.

"It is," Homura replied. "But you don't have a Soul Gem. I don't sense one on you and you just summoned a bow without one. How can you do that?"

"It happened after I picked up a feather," Madoka explained.

"A feather?"

"It was a very pretty white feather, that was also a little pink. When I touched it, it just," Madoka turned her bow around a little, "let me do this."

"That's so… weird," Homura replied.

"But you're a Magical Girl right? Do you know anything about this?"

"No. Nothing."

So after everything, Homura was just as confused as she was.

Hah. Hah.

Madoka went to the lone couch in the apartment, leaned her bow against it, and promptly took a seat. Homura also took a seat next to her.

They sat there, in silence, for quite some time. Neither taking the chance at glance at each other.

So, Homura was a Magical Girl. And Madoka she thought that she was the only one to be doing the surprising today. Turns out it had been mutual.

It was crazy, just the situation in general and the rapid-fire revelations. Also, the many unanswered questions that the two of them had.

Madoka pinched her thigh. She wasn't dreaming. It was good to check.

"Heh," Madoka chuckled once she had confirmed she was awake.

"Heh," Homura joined her.

The two faced each other and eventually their chuckling turned into full blown laughter. It seemed that they had gone a bit insane after all that, but at least they were coping.

Eventually Madoka wiped a tear off the corner of her eye. "I don't think I expected any of this to happen."

"Same." Homura smiled. "Why are things always so interesting with you around?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Madoka replied playfully. "What do Magical Girls even do?"

The smile fell off of Homura's face. "We… hunt Witches."

"Witches?"

"They're… creatures that hurt people."

"So, they're the bad guys?"

Homura shook her head. "They aren't bad… It's just, their nature to destroy and hurt. They can't help it. The best we can do is to put them to rest."

"You mean… kill them?" Madoka asked.

Homura gave her a somber smile. "It's the best way to give them peace. There's nothing about Witches to be saved."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Not that long… but I guess I have some experience."

"And you were by yourself?"

"No…" Homura fiddled with the shield slung across her arm. "I had a few… companions before. We've split up recently though."

"I-…" Madoka scooted closer. "I can be your companion then."

"Really?"

"Yea! It'll be great we can fight together."

"You can fight?" Homura asked. It was a reasonable question.

Madoka paused before looking back at her bow. "Uh. I think so? I actually haven't used it yet?"

"You haven't?" Homura asked.

"No, it… kinda just popped up this morning. I didn't think it was a good idea to use it in my home since I'd probably break something."

"That's probably for the best," Homura agreed. "I can take you to hunt a familiar if you want to try it out. They're a Witch's minions. They aren't usually very strong so it should be a good first fight for you."

Madoka reached over to grab her bow. She wasn't sure where this confidence was coming from, but she was going to take advantage of it while it lasted. "I'd like that."

* * *

Mami drank her tea alone. She was accompanied by naught but the sound of her cup lightly clinking against the saucer.

She had plenty of time to reflect. To think about her options and prepare for the next hunt. There were always Witches to hunt after all and it kept her busy. Busy enough that she wouldn't plague her mind with other things.

Or at least that's how it normally was. Unfortunately, the number of Witches in her area had been steadily decreasing. It wasn't just her either, other Magical Girls in the surrounding areas were having the same issue. It left many with no choice but to slowly migrate East where many Witches seemed to be going for some reason.

She would go and investigate herself, but that would mean leaving her territory alone. Not only would she risk another Magical Girl wandering in to take it during her absence, but there would be many civilians that would get killed by the Witches and their familiars while she was gone.

Even with decreased numbers, just a few Witches could easily devastate a city's population if left alone. If one needed an example, then simply look at the time Japan had been nearly wiped out when the asset price bubble popped in 1992. You could also look at the recent Great Recession just a year ago.

As if the financial instability of these events weren't enough, many people were killed or compelled to kill themselves by the Witches during these times. It was because many Magical Girls at the time had starved or were forced to move elsewhere. Then when things got really desperate there was a sharp influx of new Magical Girls to combat that threat, only for many of them to die in the chaos. The ones that survived the Witches then had to fight each other for territory.

That was the thing about Witches. If it was just them then they would be manageable for the most part. The problem was how they could take wars, natural disasters, and economic instability and create a feedback loop of death and destruction. Asian countries were often hit the hardest due to higher population density compared to most Western countries. Japan was about ten times denser than the United States which led to significantly higher percentage Magical Girls among the population in the former, which lead to more conflict among their numbers. Of course, that was nothing compared to the density of countries like Singapore or China. How Magical Girls operated there, she did not know. Nor could she imagine.

_Mami._

She set her teacup down. That was enough of her history lesson for now. "Hello Kyubey. Would you like some cake?"

_You know I don't eat,_ he replied as he jumped on the table. Yes, his race was technically genderless, but it was a lot easier for her to think it was a boy nowadays.

"It's polite to ask," she replied. "What do you need?" For as much as she appreciated his company, she knew that it rarely showed up for reasons outside of business. It was only after said business had been dealt with, that she could convince him to stick around in her apartment for a bit.

_There are two girls in your territory that you would be interested in._

"Potential Contractors?"

_Only one of them. And they're both anomalies._

"What do you mean?" He didn't use the word anomaly lightly. If he said that, then things were definitely strange.

_One is a Magical Girl that I do not recall contracting._

Mami raised an eye. Yep, that was strange and certainly cause for reason. "I thought you were responsible for contracting all Magical Girls?"

_I am. Which is why it's unusual that I can't recall her._

"Is she dangerous?"

_I do not know what her magic is, but she doesn't seem aggressive. There's a high chance she'll be amendable to discussion at the very least._

It would be best if Mami could reason with this Magical Girl. She was still prepared to fight though, if it came to it. "And the other?"

_Has access to powers despite not having a Contract._

Mami's eyes grew wide. "A Magus."

_Possibly. And she also has incredible potential._

"How much?"

_It easily dwarfs yours and Sakura's combined._

Mami flinched at the reminder of her previous Junior.

_She could likely be one of the strongest Magical Girls alive if she were to Contract. Possibly the strongest given enough time."_

Mami gulped. A girl with such incredible power. What would they do once it was in their hands though? "Who is she and what is she like?" She had to make sure that this girl wouldn't be a threat to the world.

_Kaname Madoka. By all accounts she is a fairly normal human, which makes her vast potential even more unusual. Those around her have the opinion that she is kind if a bit naïve. Our observations so far support this. She can do much with the proper guidance._

Mami could definitely work with that. Kaname's potential was frightening and the other girl was still a complete unknown, but they would at least be willing to talk should she approach them carefully. And if Kaname really was as kind as they said, then she would be a great boon to this world. Someone who could help a lot of people. All she needed was for someone to set her on the right path.

"And you came to me to teach her?"

_You are considerate of your own kind, much more open to cooperation, and have had experience mentoring other Magical Girls._

"My track record… hasn't been very good though." Most of the Magical Girls that she had tried to Mentor had simply left, unable to cope with the life. There had only been one pair of siblings with the potential and strength to last and she had already failed them. One had died and the other had lost nearly everything important to them in their life.

_Through little fault of your own, according to our observations._

"I'm aware of your observations," Mami sighed. Still didn't change the fact that Momo had been her responsibility. Saku-, no Emiya was fully justified in holding that against her. "Am I really the best person for this?"

Kyubey tilted his head. _We wouldn't come to you otherwise. You are our best hope for Kaname and thus insuring the prosperity of the universe._

It was never just the world with Kyubey. It apparently had to take responsibility of safeguarding the universe. Mami didn't know how it was able to do that, but it was a good enough cause. If a bit vague at times.

She picked up her teacup and took a sip.

She might've failed before, but that didn't mean she was destined to repeat her mistakes. Maybe this was a chance to make amends, to finally achieve what she couldn't do previously.

And maybe she could finally start inviting people to her apartment again. Tea and cake were best eaten in good company after all.

"I'll do it," Mami announced. "I'll be their Mentor."


	15. Chapter 15

Stepping into a labyrinth for the first time was certainly an experience for Madoka. This strange cartoon like reality made her feel… sad. Not afraid, just sad. Was it something to do with what Homura had said? That it wasn't their fault? That the creators of this place were just following their nature.

"Are you alright Madoka?"

Madoka tried to give her friend a reassuring smile. It probably wasn't working. "I'm fine. Just… feeling a bit weird."

"It takes some time to get used to your first labyrinth. You're doing well so far," Homura said.

"Thank you. So, what do these familiars look like?"

"They're unique depending on the Witch that created them. They're easy to find since they usually come for us."

"You mean like that grey mustached head with giant scissors over there?" Madoka pointed. Yea, it was hard to miss one of those.

Homura turned around. "That's one of them." The Magical Girl reached into her shield and pulled out a-

"A golf club?" Madoka asked. "Is that your Magical Girl weapon?"

Homura blushed though she made sure to keep her attention focused on the familiars. "No, my weapon is this shield. It lets me store whatever I put into it for later. It also… lets me stop time."

Madoka looked at Homura in awe. "Really? That's amazing."

"You believe me? Most people don't until I actually show them."

"I don't think you'd lie to me. I trust you."

"Oh…"

The familiar chose that chance to jump at them, only for Homura to suddenly reappear behind it and smack it on the back of the head. She then kicked away its scissors and held it against the ground with the head of her golf club.

"Do you want to take a swing now?" Homura asked. She looked at her golf club. "Er, no pun intended."

Madoka held up her bow but hesitated to draw the string. Homura was awfully close to that familiar. "I'm afraid I might hit you."

It was Homura's turn to smile. "I know you won't. I trust you."

That encouragement was all Madoka needed to create her arrow and draw the string. Her hands were steady as she nocked her arrow and released. It flew true and pierced the familiar's head.

"You always- er… I had a feeling you were a good archer," Homura commented as she stepped back and let the familiar fade away.

"It was a lucky shot," Madoka said. That was the first time she had ever used a bow and yet it felt completely natural to her. "Thanks for holding it still." She looked around. "Is that it?"

"No, it's only over when the labyrinth starts fading. There's no Witch here so we'll have to kill all the familiars to get rid of it." Homura began walking deeper into the labyrinth. "Follow me."

"How many of them are there usually?" Madoka asked as she followed the Magical Girl closely.

"A lot usually. We're almost always going to be outnumbered."

Eventually they ran into a small group of familiars. At least ten of them if Madoka was counting correctly.

Madoka gulped as she raised her bow once more.

That was… a big jump from just one.

Homura on the other hand put away her golf club away into her shield and then pulled out a-

"Is that a gun!?" Madoka squealed, almost breaking her stance.

"Uh… yes?" Homura replied as she casually held a semiautomatic handgun. It seemed surprisingly fitting in her hands, much more so than that golf club. "I was told it was a good weapon for me to use."

"What else do you have in there?"

"A few shotguns and rifles. Also, some bombs."

"Where did you get those?"

"I er… stole the guns from Yakuza."

"How!?"

"I stopped time. Also, I made the bombs myself."

Normally Madoka was against stealing, but considering that Homura had taken them from the and she was using them for a good cause…

At that moment the familiars finally noticed their presence and started their charge. Homura immediately raised her gun and fired.

**BANG!**

The sound of the first shot was near deafening and the ones that followed it caused Madoka's ears to ring.

"Loud!"

"S-sorry." Homura replied but still continued firing.

Madoka grit her teeth and tried to shoot at the familiars with her bow.

It was one thing to shoot an immobilized target, but trying to aim and fire her bow against several monsters running at her with deadly intent? Well, she panicked and completely missing her first few shots. The only damage her arrows caused were the holes she left in the walls and floors. Thankfully Homura had been there to shoot down any familiars that got within a certain distance.

Did guns have to be so loud though? Every time Homura fired it felt like Madoka's head was getting rattled.

"Just... remember to take a deep breath and focus on the target in front of you. Don't be afraid of missing, just try your best," Homura said as she stopped firing before her last bullet and released the magazine. She reached into a shield and pulled out a new clip which she promptly inserted into the gun. That entire process took less than second. "That's what an old friend told me."

Madoka took a deep breath and felt that her nerves had calmed.

Focus on the target in front of you. Don't be afraid of missing. Just do her best.

She nocked her arrow against her bow and tracked the movement of a familiar that had begun strafing on its way towards her.

Just be the best that she could be.

Madoka released and her arrow blew off one of its legs. Not killing, but an immobilizing blow. Enough that she could ready another arrow and shoot it down before it could get back up. She then turned back to Homura's direction and shot at the one of the familiars the Magical Girl had been keeping occupied.

Deep breaths.

Her fated enemy was in front of her. All she had to do was shoot them down.

Like clockwork, she fired her arrows. Again and again. Until everything in front of her had been shot down. She then moved forward with Homura to hunt down whatever familiars remained within the labyrinth. It wasn't the world around them began to collapse before she finally let herself relax.

"That was great Madoka."

"What?" Madoka replied unable to hear her. Her ears were still recovering from the gunfire. She decided not to mention that lest the Magical Girl blame herself for being its cause.

"That was great Madoka," Homura said a bit more loudly this time. "How do you feel?"

"Tired I think?" Madoka replied. "My arm and back is sore."

"Is that it?"

"Am I supposed to feel something else?"

"You're not a Magical Girl and it was your first time using your bow. It would make sense that you're sore."

"Magical Girls don't get tired?"

"Not physically, but we can use up our magic." Homura showed Madoka her Soul Gem. "The more we use up, the darker our Soul Gems get. We need to cleanse it with a Witch's grief seed before it gets too dark or else it'll get us killed fighting… or something worse."

"Something worse?"

"It's… nothing you need to worry about right now."

"Ok." Madoka looked around the site where the labyrinth had been located, a closed off section of the mall that she and her friends went to regularly. It was a good thing they had dealt with those creatures, a lot of people could've gotten hurt. Now they were safe.

There wasn't even any damage to the building. All the damage to the labyrinth had disappeared with it, as did the traces of the familiars. It was as if their battle had never happened in the first place. It was starting to make sense how the existence of Witches could be kept a secret from most other people for so long.

Convenient too, as it gave them enough time to get back to her house before dinner.

* * *

"I'm home," Madoka called out as stepped inside her house with Homura following close behind. "And I brought Homura." She had already texted her father beforehand so that he could cook an extra portion, it was just polite to announce a guest's presence.

"Meow." Amy greeted first, as always, before going back to the food in its bowl.

"Welcome back," her father called out from the kitchen.

"Mado-ka!" Tatsuya called cheerfully out from his little booster seat.

"Hello Mr. Kaname." Homura bowed her head. "Thank you for having me over for dinner."

Her father smiled. "Make yourself at home. Any friend of Madoka's is welcome."

"You're very kind."

"Why don't you show her to your room?" he suggested to Madoka. "There's still some time before your mother gets home for dinner."

"Oh! She's finishing early today?" Madoka asked.

"Yes. She also wanted to meet your new friend."

"I'm looking forward to meeting her," Homura replied.

"And this is my little brother, Tatsuya." Madoka brought her hand to the toddler who grabbed it eagerly.

"Mado! Sis!"

Madoka gestured to Homura. "This is Homura she's a friend."

"Homewuh friend?" Tatsuya looked at Homura curiously

"Yes."

"Homewuh!" Tatsuya raised his arms and shouted cheerfully.

Madoka giggled and Homura smiled.

"That mean he likes you. A lot. Even Sayaka had to play with him a lot before he started calling her name."

"Thank you, Tatsuya." Homura held a finger out.

Tatsuya grabbed it, tugged a few times, and then brought their hands together. "Friend!" he happily exclaimed.

Well. Apparently Homura had gotten her brother's approval.

After playing with him and Amy for a bit, they made their way up to Madoka's room.

"You have a nice family and home," Homura commented as she sat down on the carpet.

"Thank you," Madoka replied as she opened a window to let some air in. "Mama works really hard to provide for us and Papa is always there to take care of us."

"Do you ever find it weird that your father is the one that stays at home?" Homura asked. "N-not that that bothers it's just something you don't see very often."

Madoka thought about it for a bit. "Not really. At least I don't think its weird. A couple of boys back in elementary used to make fun of him though."

It all had all started on Class Observation Day when her mother had been busy with work. Her father had shown up instead, and he had stood out in a room full of mothers. When it came out that he was a househusband, several boys and even a girl began to make fun of him.

"That can't have been easy," Homura said.

"It wasn't," Madoka admitted. How could it not? Considering that they were mocking the people she loved. "Thankfully Sayaka was there too. She got mad and got them to stop."

"That should've been interesting."

"It was. She said," Madoka cleared her throat, "What's wrong with her father staying home? And her mother is a successful businesswoman. What do you mother's do?"

"That does sound like Miki," Homura chuckled.

"Yea she's always been there to protect and help remind me how great Mama is."

"Your mother seems like a very impressive woman."

"She is. I really want to be like her one day. She's so strong and cool and doesn't let anyone mess with her." Madoka scratched the back of her head. "Me on the other hand? I need Sayaka to deal with a couple of bullies. I… can't say anything to them really."

It was something that she regretted, being unable to act by herself. She wanted to do something, but it was just hard. She didn't like hurting people even if they were hurting her, but that didn't mean she should let them get away with it.

She should've done something.

She should do something.

She would do it.

"M-Madako? Why did you take your bow out?"

Madoka looked down. Her eyes went wide once she saw her bow in her hands.

"Eep!"

She let it fall out of her hand and disappear.

That was scary. Just because she wanted to do something didn't mean that that something was to shoot them!

"Still trying to get control of your powers?" Homura asked.

"Yea," Madoka chuckled nervously. "I'm worried that it might just pop up in class if I'm not careful." The bow just came to her hands so easily now and it made her feel brave holding it. Maybe a bit too brave. "You ever have issues like that with your powers?"

"No… Magical Girls instinctively know how to use their Magic. There's always room for us to learn, improve, and adapt it but we usually have no issue controlling it unless something really bad happens to us."

"Really bad?"

"I knew a girl who lost her magic, because something really bad happened because of her wish and she felt terrible. She was still one of the toughest Magical Girls I knew without her magic, but… I don't think she ever recovered."

"Magical Girls go through a lot. Don't they?"

"They do. It's not an easy life… which is why I don't suggest you become one."

"Homura?"

Homura raised her hands. "I mean I won't stop you from making your own decision. If you want then I won't get in your way, but just make sure to think about it. Make sure that you know you really want."

"You're really nice Homura."

"Eh!?"

"And considerate. Thank you for worrying about me."

"Y-you're welcome."

They talked a bit more before Homura requested to use the bathroom. After being given directions, Homura left the room leaving Madoka alone.

A sudden breeze brought a swift chill to her home. She stood up and turned around to close it only to find a… white bunny cat thing sitting on her windowsill.

It looked fairly cute if a bit peculiar. Something that Madoka would've definitely cuddled with had it been a stuffed animal and not a living creature with a swaying tail and eyes that seemed to follow her every movement.

_Hello Madoka._

Its voice was cute. It was also apparently telepathic.

"H-hi," Madoka said.

_You're very calm. Most girls react differently when they see me for the first time._

"I've… had a long day," Madoka replied. Honestly, stuff like this stopped being strange to her. Kinda have to roll with it at some point. It was either that or lose her mind.

_Certainly, a productive one. You did well, dealing with those familiars._

"Thanks."

_Even as a normal human your powers are quite exceptional._

Madoka wasn't really sure that having powers characterized her as normal at this point but she wasn't going to argue with it.

_You would make an excellent Magical Girl._

At that point her brain had essentially shut down. She simply stared at in silence. Long enough that Homura had time to finish with her business and step into the room to find the two of them staring at each other.

"Kyubey!?" Homura shouted.

"Is everything alright Sweetie?" Madoka's father called out form downstairs.

It was at that point that Madoka's brain had finally jumpstarted itself, if only to stop her father from running in. "Everything's fine Papa! Homura just read something funny."

"Okay! You girls have your fun!"

 _You know of me?_ Kyubey turned to Homura. _Yet I do not remember ever forming a Contract with you._

"The situation of my Contract… was complicated," Homura replied. She was stiff and nervous in the cat's presence for some reason.

_I'm sure I could understand if you told me._

Homura remained silent.

 _No matter._ Kyubey turned its head and began to address Madoka. _As I was saying, you are very capable and would make an excellent Magical Girl._

"You want me to become a Magical Girl?" Madoka asked. "H-how does that work?"

_You form a Contract with me. In exchange for any wish you desire, you become a Magical Girl and fight Witches._

"B-but why me?"

Kyubey tilted its head. _You have great potential, the potential to become one of the strongest Magical Girls in existence. And you've already used what powers you currently have to fight familiars. Imagine what you could do with the strength provided from a Contract._

"How long have you been watching us?" Madoka asked.

"It's always watching us," Homura replied. "Even when we can't see it most of the time."

_I am not suited to combat. It's a necessity to keep myself hidden so that I am able to provide guidance as needed._

"So… like a mascot. In those Magical Girl animes," Madoka said.

_There are some similarities. The first of those animes and mangas were based off the life experiences of a previous Magical Girl who had pursued a career in that field._

"Isn't magic supposed to be kept a secret though?"

_We allowed it because it was promoted as a fictional work. Did you believe Magical Girls existed by watching those shows alone?_

"No," Madoka admitted.

_It was also a way of gauging how receptive society would currently be about the existence of magic, should we ever consider making Magic's existence public knowledge. Or should a situation arise in which that is forced to happen outside of our foresight. It doesn't happen often, but we wish to avoid another situation like the Salem Witch hunts. We lost a number of Magical Girls because of rampant fear and paranoia that humans seem prone to experiencing,_

Madoka shivered at the thought. Being hung, drowned, or burned alive at a stake wasn't a fate she would've wished on anyone.

"And now?" Homura asked.

_We are still gathering information before we can form a consensus. As for your Contract Madoka._

"Madoka. You shouldn't force yourself to make a wish," Homura said. "It's not a decision you should make lightly… if at all," she muttered under her breath.

Madoka looked at Homura before turning to Kyubey and then back to Homura. "I think I need some time to think about this."

 _We will give you as much time as you need._ Kyubey bowed its head and turned around. _Just know that we will always be there for you._ It then jumped away and disappeared into the night.

Once it was gone, Madoka let out a deep breath and sat on her bed.

"Homura?"

"Yes Madoka?"

"You wouldn't happen to know a good psychiatrist. Would you?"

"No. Sorry."

"That's fine then."

Madoka buried her head into a pillow. She then let out all her stress and frustration in a single scream.

"MMUAAAAAAUUUHHHH!"


End file.
